


Don't Stop Meow

by BohemianBeth



Series: It’s a Kind of Magic [2]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magic, Cats, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Sequel, Song: We Are The Champions (Queen), Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-05-14 11:52:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19272730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BohemianBeth/pseuds/BohemianBeth
Summary: Sequel to The Incredible Shrinking Deaky! Deacury/Maylor.Roger is the only one who remembers John's encounter with a witch, but with their "little" adventure aside, Queen continues to make music history and is preparing to release their newest album News of the World. The only problem is that Freddie is having difficulty working on his single to be released alongside Brian's iconic "We Will Rock You". With the deadline quickly approaching, Freddie finds inspiration from a seemingly sweet old lady who loves cats. She even claims she has magical powers to turn people into cats, but Freddie knows better. Witches aren't real. Too bad he wasn't allowed to keep his memories from his first experience dealing with magic...OrA witch turns Freddie into a cat and it's up to the boys to save him and reverse the spell!





	1. Spread Your Wings

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go again! I decided to write a sequel to the Incredible Shrinking Deaky in which Freddie is the one who has a bizarre magical spell cast on him by a witch instead of Deaky. This could work as a stand alone, but some parts might not make much sense, so I suggest you read that one first. It takes place about a year after Deaky returns to his normal size. Now for the disclaimers/warnings I start off every story with: This is a Deacury/Maylor fic, so if you don't ship them turn back now. For those of you still here, remember that this is completely FICTIONAL and it's an AU so obviously none of it is accurate. Please be respectful and know that I don't mean any harm and just want to have some fun writing this for fellow Queen fans. Don't send this story to Queen members or anyone associated to Queen or anyone else who might find this offensive. I own nothing. This story will be cross posted on my Wattpad account @beth_fanfiction. With all that out of way, enjoy!

_Freddie's POV_

What the hell was I thinking? " _Let's write a two-parter, Brian! They're singles, but they can be played back to back! It'll be brilliant, I tell you! I'll write the A-side and you'll write the B-side. We can film the music videos on the same day as well. I already bought these amazing sunglasses that are shaped like stars. I'm going to look fabulous!"_

Two months later, and Brian had his brilliant anthem known as "We Will Rock You" written while everyone was waiting for me to wow them with my followup. I promised my darlings something big and powerful that would make them proud to be a part of Queen. What did I come up with? A few notes on the piano. That was it. Fuck! What was I going to do? I wasn't above bouncing ideas off of my bandmates, but I usually went to them for help when I had something to work with. Right now I had nothing, not even a basic melody. 

The craziest part was that I was still able to write other songs for the albums without a problem. I put out My Melancholy Blues and my personal favorite, Get Down Make Love, and I was proud of both of them, but they weren't quite the magnum opus I was looking for when it came to my big single of the album. For some reason this champion song as I called it was evading me and making me feel like a loser. I didn't have time for losers. I needed to writing this damn song! "Come on Mercury!" I shouted, staring down at the piano. "You can do this!"

"Meow!" Oscar jumped down from the ledge and put his chubby paws on the piano keys creating a discordant array of notes. At this point, he could probably write a better song than me.

"I bet you want a snack, darling." I said, shooing him off the piano. I'd have to dust the orange fur off the ivory later. Oh, the struggles of being a cat lover! If anyone else fucked with my piano, I'd scold them. Except maybe Deaky. He and the cats were the only ones allowed.

Speaking of Deaky, I found him in the kitchen munching on a slice of cheese on toast and looking over a piece of paper, presumably lyrics. Whatever he was writing, I was eager to oversee it. I adored anything and everything he put out, but perhaps I was a tad bias considering he was the love of my life. John looked up as I got the bag of treats for Oscar. "You spoil that cat you know." He murmured.

"No less than any of the others." I replied. "I want all my cats to have unlimited treats, toys, and cuddles. Oscar just likes the treats though. Isn't that right, dear?" I cooed as I put the treat in his bowl. Oscar ignored me as I pet him and went right for the food. No purrs or signs of affection or anything, but I didn't expect that coming from my stubborn little grump. "Fine, be like that! Just know that your Papa loves you very very much even though you don't give two shits about me."

"So I was talking to Roger." John said in between bites of toast. "He thinks we should film the music videos outside in the garden of their new mansion, but I told him he was bloody mad. It's way too cold this time of year. We'll freeze out there. Brian agrees with me. You have the deciding vote."

"The music videos?" I laughed nervously. "We're not quite there yet, darling. We still have plenty of time to decide where and how we'll film them."

"Not really, no. We need to get them out as soon as possible so we can start promoting the singles. The album deadline is next month. We already recorded We Will Rock You, so as soon as you're done with your followup single, which is sure to be fantastic, we can get started. I say we film inside to avoid hypothermia. What do you think, Freddie?"

"What are you working on, darling?" I avoided the subject of my yet to be written masterpiece.

"Oh this? I'm not sure if it's any good. It could use a rewrite or two. I call it Spread Your Wings." John announced hesitantly. "I was going to run it by the three of you tomorrow in the studio."

"I'm sure it's great. Better than whatever is I'm trying to...Never mind. Let me have a look, okay?" I took the paper and examined it. What was Deaky talking about? This was absolutely beautiful. "Sammy is going to be on the album." I declared. "In fact, he'll be a single. No more sweeping the Emerald Bar for him. He'll pull himself together and be a hit!"

Deaky giggled. "You really think so, Freddie?" I removed the slice of bread from his mouth and replaced it my lips. "I know so, darling. I think it's some of your best work. Really."

"Ah thanks." He took back the toast. "I can't wait to see what you've come up with. I'm sure it'll blow my socks off just like everything you do!"

Sooner or later I would have to come clean and tell him and the others that this song was no pleasure cruise. It wasn't coming along at all. Would they be disappointed in me? There had to be a way to delay the music video. Maybe we do a video for one of our other completed songs instead. Wait a minute...

"You know I have an idea." I exclaimed. "What if we made a music video for Spread Your Wings alongside We Will Rock You and delay the video for my song so that it comes out with the album." Deaky deserved some limelight. He was often overpowered by the personalities of his bandmates, myself included. Spread Your Wings was a worthy song in my opinion. This would solve all of my problems as well. It would buy me more time to come up with something that was up to Queen's and my own standards for my single.

"You're okay with that?" John asked skeptically. "I thought you and Brian wanted to release your singles back to back."

"They'll still be played in a row on the album and on the radio." I dismissed. "I think little Sammy needs to a chance to spread his wings and be a star!"

"Wow!" John exclaimed. "I can't believe you like my song so much!" He took his final bite of cheese toast, and once it was finished, he kissed me properly.  "Mmm. I love you." He sighed. "I love you too, darling."

***

"It's f-fucking f-freezing!" Roger chattered, rubbing his hands together. "H-How the hell...am I supposed to drum? My fingers are n-numb!"

"T-this was your idea." I shivered, filling my mind with thoughts of warm sunny beaches off the shores of Zanzibar.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to agree to it!" Roger cried.

"You threatened to lock yourself in the cupboard again." Brian pointed out. "C'mon. Let's not stand out here in the cold any longer than we have to. We've got a video to film!"

I took a swig from my special cup. The boys forced me to stay sober during music videos and concerts after the time I got so drunk before going out on stage that Roger had to help me put my trousers on or so I'm told. I don't really remember it. From what I read in a review from the newspaper the following the morning, the concert went great and I gave my A game. I found many creative ways around the new asinine alcohol restriction the band placed on me. I laughed at the mug facade and downed more of the vodka hidden inside. No one would suspect a thing. 

John cuddled with me for warmth, and I of course allowed it. "C-Can I have s-some of your cocoa?" He shivered. Oh shit! "Darling, this isn't cocoa." I whispered.  Deaky snatched the cup from me and smelled the alcohol. "Freddie, you promised you wouldn't!"

"It's not fair." I cried. "Roger drinks more than me. How come he's allowed to play the drums while shit-faced?"

"It doesn't matter what Roger does. We made a band decision after that concert, Freddie. No more drinking on the job."

I ignored him and took another sip. I nearly slipped on the ice when I made my way to the stage, but I caught myself. "Alright! Let's rock this garden! We might be freezing now, but believe me, we're hot! Now start stomping and clapping!"

We made it through the filming, and I only fell on my ass once! Success! Deaky knew I was slightly drunk, but Brian and Roger were too cold to care. My bandmates suffered more than me because I got to wear gloves and didn't have to use my fingers besides holding the microphone. I couldn't imagine strumming a guitar or drumming in this kind of weather. It was just too bloody cold for that kind of dexterity. Brian didn't even want to expose his glorious red special to these conditions and was using a different guitar for once. I refilled my "cocoa" as we watched the playback.

"W-Worth it." Roger shivered. "W-we look great!"

"It's my star sunglasses. They really did the trick and made the rest of you look half decent!" I couldn't help but laugh when the other three glared at me. I flicked Deaky on his freezing red nose. "You're so cute when you're mad." I giggled.

"Damn it, Freddie, you're drunk, aren't you!" Brian caught on.

"So what if I am?" I exclaimed. "Look at that footage. It came out fantastic! I can still perform even if I'm wasting."

"He's right, Bri." Roger said gesturing to the cameras. "I always thought the no drinking rule was dumb. We all know I stash beers beneath my drums."

"I don't even follow the rule anyway." I added. I put my arm around Deaky. "Sober Freddie isn't as cuddly, and my Deaks needs his cuddles especially in this freezing weather." I pulled myself out of my silliness for a moment when I realized how much John was shivering in my embrace. "You're cold as ice, darling. We need to get you inside, my love. We'll get you real cocoa with marshmallows, and I'll cover you in blankets." "I-I'm f-fine." John chattered. "J-Just keep holding me." "Of course, my dear." 

"We have all the footage of you we need." The cameraman said. "We should all get back inside where it's warm."

"Yes, and after we've warmed up, you can show us the new single you've been working on, Fred." Brian said. "I've been looking forward to hearing it."

"Cocoa and warm soup first, dear." I put off the inevitable. What an embarrassment it would be when the time came for me to admit that I had nothing. Why was this champion song proving so difficult to write? Well, I would keep on fighting till the end. One way or another I'd come up with something before the deadline. I just had to avoid talking about it until I had something decent to show my bandmates.

"Don't worry, Freddie. It's going to be one of biggest hits yet!" Roger proclaimed. "Just as big as Bohemian Rhapsody."

"You can't know that yet." I said. 

"Just trust me." Roger patted me on the back. "It'll happen." Lately he had been eerily right about a lot of things almost as if he could see into the future or something. I performed in stadiums in front of millions of people, but I never felt this kind of pressure before. I wanted to trust Roger's optimism in this case, but I was beginning to doubt myself. Perhaps I just needed to find some source of inspiration. 

Back inside, we treated ourselves to warm meals and beverages. "Just how much cheese on toast can you eat, my love?" I chuckled as John dunked his favorite food into the tomato soup. Deaky was just so cute sometimes my heart couldn't handle it! 

"So have you heard any news about Pixie, Brian?" John asked. Pixie was the name of the adorable baby black kitten Roger got Brian for Christmas. A few months ago, she ran away, and we were all devastated, but it impacted Brian the most. It created a beautiful but heartbreaking song on the album if there was any silver lining. Although losing a pet was always very tragic. I didn't even want to think about it.

"I really think she's gone. I don't want to believe it. But if someone found her, they would've called by now. We put out a cash reward for her." Brian sighed. Roger squeezed his hand. "It's okay, baby." He whispered. "I've got you." Brian gave him a sad smile. "I don't know how I'd handle it without you, honey." "Well I'm always here at your side to love and annoy you." Roger assured him with a cheeky grin in an attempt to cheer him up. He gave Brian a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I'm sorry I brought it up. I was hoping for good news." Deaky murmured. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry, Bri."

"It's not your fault." I said.

"We did everything we could." Brian said. "Let's talk about something more uplifting. Freddie, how is the single coming along? Do you want to show it to us?"

Fuck! "How about a game of Scrabble instead?" I offered. "I don't think you're in the right mind to critique my work right now."

"When are we going to hear it, Freddie? You won't even hum me the melody at night to help me fall asleep." John pouted. God I couldn't resist that pouty face.

"I hum you all the other melodies I've written. Isn't that enough?" Why did that come out so defensively?

"Freddie, do you need help with it? No shame in asking one of us." Brian suggested. "Show us what you have and we can work with you."

 _'But I don't have anything!'_ I thought. "It's a work in progress." I admitted. "The deadline is coming up sooner than later." Brian reminded me. "We really need to get the album out on time."

"I could write another single instead!" Roger interjected. "I'm Still in Love With my Car is always a contender."

"No, darling! We are not resorting to that." I shouted. "I just need more time, but I swear I'll get it done before the deadline, and it will be everything you're expecting and more."

"Are you sure we can't help?" Deaky asked. "That's what we're here for, you know. I'd love to see what you have so far even if it's not very much."

Showing them that after all this time I had come up with nothing more than a few notes was admitting to failure. I had too much pride to do it. "I'll show you when I have a bit more." I said.

"You're gonna get it done." Roger said. "If anyone can do it, it's you! You're our champion!"

"I-I need some air." I decided, abruptly rising from the table. Sure, it was freezing outside, but maybe the brisk breeze and snow would help me unlock some creativity. 

The weather only got worse the longer I stayed out. Part of me wanted to turn back, but I continued on my stroll down the empty streets of frigid London. What was wrong with me? Why wasn't anything coming to me the way it normally did? I couldn't go back and face the band. I didn't want them to be disappointed in me. What if I let them down? They were expecting something big, and I always delivered. I couldn't make this time the exception. I had to—

I almost tripped over a cat running through the street. His white fur blended in with the snow. Poor thing was going to freeze out here all on his own. Maybe this walk was a good idea after all if it meant rescuing an animal in need. I chased after the cat hoping to grab him and bring him back to the mansion so he could be warm. Then I'd get some food in his belly and determine whether or not he was a stray. Hopefully no one was out looking for him in this bitter cold. I couldn't help but think of poor little Pixie. Lost pets must feel so afraid and alone.

"Here kitty, kitty!" I called, nearly slipping on the ice as I ran. I stopped at last when I spotted the white fluff basking in a sea of red. I did a double take when I realized what I was looking at. Right there in the snow was a garden full of thriving red roses. How strange! Snow brought with it barren land. No bed of roses should be able to survive here. The cat looked up at me and whimpered as if he were asking for help. 

"Oh, darling!" I cried, scooping him up into my arms. "Don't worry. My friends Roger and Brian have a warm and comfy mansion. I'll take you there and get you something to eat." 

The cat had no collar or identification, so  I was left to assume that he was a stray. I might put out some posters, but it was very likely that I'd be keeping this little guy and adopting him as the newest addition to the Mercury Deacon household. His brothers and sisters would be very gracious. Well all except Oscar, but he wouldn't be a bother because he mostly kept to himself unlike the other playful cats. 

Before I could start walking back to Brian and Roger's, the door to the manor overlooking the unnatural rose garden opened. An elderly woman with white hair pulled back into a bun stepped out. She was wearing a long black dress. "Snowball?" She called. "Snowball, are you out here?" 

I looked down at the cat in my arms and back up at the frantic old lady screaming for Snowball. It seemed like an appropriate name for the white fluffball. "I think I found your mommy, little one. Sorry, darling, but it's time to say goodbye. You need to go home." 

I walked up to the manor, admiring its gothic architecture. It stood out on the otherwise dreary snowy streets.  The old woman was standing out on the front porch peering into the distance. "I believe I found your cat." I announced climbing up onto the porch, which was quite slippery with the snow and ice. 

She gasped when she saw who I was holding. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She proclaimed. I was surprised she didn't recognize me, but it was sometimes nice to be treated like a normal person rather than a rockstar. 

"Careful, don't fall!" She gave me her hand and helped me up the stairs. Snowball surprisingly hissed as the old woman took him from me. "Snowball, don't you ever leave me again!" The pet owner exclaimed. 

"I'm glad I could get the two of you reunited." I said. "Losing a pet is such a horrible thing. I have several cats at home, and I would go slightly mad if anything were to happen to them."  

"Cats are my favorite." She said. "I was just getting ready to feed them when I noticed Snowball was missing. Is there anyway I can repay you for bringing him back to me?" 

"That's alright, darling. I should be getting back now. My friends will probably worry. I've been gone too long."

"Well, I don't think your friends would want you wandering out in this blizzard. Why don't you come inside and wait out the storm with me and my cats? The least I can do is offer you some  tea after you saved my precious Snowball. Besides, you must be freezing. The tea will warm you up." 

Tea with furry companions was a wonderful combination that I just couldn't pass up. A blizzard was an exaggeration, but maybe if I waited, the snow would lessen so I wouldn't have much trouble walking back to Brian and Roger's mansion.  If it got to be too late, I could always ask to use the old lady's phone to call them and let them know I was alright. 

"I'd love to." I said, following her into the manor. "Thank you." 


	2. Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivianna has Freddie over for tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read and left comments and kudos on the first chapter! I appreciate it. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

"My name is Vivianna." She introduced herself as we entered the manor. "It is very nice to meet you, young man, and thank you again for returning my precious Snowball."

"My name is Freddie Mercury." I waited for the name to ring some bells, but the old woman didn't react. She really had no clue who I was.

I counted at least a dozen cats as Vivianna gave me a tour of her manor. It was quite lavish and kept surprisingly clean despite all the furry friends roaming around. Cats do clean themselves and are far less dirty than dogs, but still the floors were kept remarkably spotless. I couldn't find a single cat hair.

"You ought to give your maid a raise, darling. I've never seen a cleaner home!"

"I don't have a maid. It's just me and the cats." Vivianna replied.

I gasped. "You clean this entire manor all by yourself? How do you deal with the shedding? What's your secret?"

"Magic!" She said wiggling her fingers in demonstration. I laughed. "You have quite a talent. I never bother with household chores. I hire people to cook and clean for me. Luckily I've found a partner who puts up with me, but I try my best to take good care of him in return."

"You're in a relationship?" She asked.

"I am." I said proudly. We had all come out earlier in the year after the success of our last tour. Although we lost some fans and received a few death threats from religious fanatics, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Vivianna was elderly, so she likely had traditional views on love, but if I could share my true self with the entire world and still be a champion, then coming out to one single person didn't seem too scary. "We've been together for over two years now."

"That's nice." Vivianna remarked without a hint of judgement or ill will. "Why don't you have a seat in the dining room while I make us some tea. I also have a pot pie cooking in the oven. Would you like some of that as well?"

"No thank you, darling. I already ate. Just the tea would be fine. Thank you very much." I professed. Never had I met such a hospitable stranger.

One of the cats jumped up onto the table staring at me with wide eyes. She meowed fussily at me in a strange manner. "What is it, dear?" I asked. When Vivianna returned with the tea, the cat jumped off the table and scampered away. More cats were hiding beneath the table as if they were afraid of their owner. I couldn't understand why though. They didn't appear malnourished or abused. From what I could tell the cats were strong, fluffy, and healthy, if not a tad bit plump. Vivianna must love to feed them lots of treats. Oscar would like her.

"So what do you do for a living, Freddie?" She asked.

"I'm actually the lead singer in a rock band." I said as I took a sip of the tea. It was minty and refreshing, some of the best tea I've tasted.

"Interesting." She mused. "You must be quite the musician then. I'm sure you're very talented. Is the tea to your liking? Would you like it any hotter?"

"No it is perfectly fine thank you very much. It's delicious actually."

"Alright. Just let me know if there is anything I can do to make you feel more at home." Vivianna offered. "I don't get many guests over, so I like to make them feel comfortable."

"Oh I find that surprising, darling. You treat your guests so well. You should host company more often."

"I'm afraid most days it's just me and the cats." She sighed. "But enough about me. Tell me more about yourself. The life of a rockstar must be very exciting. Do you have a lot of fans?"

"We sell out stadiums and tour around the world. The crowds can't get enough of us." I boasted.

"Don't you ever get homesick?" Vivianna wondered.

"Well I do miss my cats dearly when I'm on the road, but my friend Mary takes good care of them when I'm gone. I can't say I get too homesick because my band is my family. So I'm at home whenever I'm with them even if we're far from home if that makes sense."

"It does make sense." She agreed. "It sounds like your band really watches out for you."

"I watch out for them as well. We fight like crazy, but we're very supportive of each other. If anything were to happen to any one of us, we'd go after the one responsible with torches and pitchforks."

I recalled the inflammatory articles and interviews Prenter had put out about me after I fired him. Brian, Roger, and of course my Deaky were all by my side to defend my reputation. I couldn't ask for better mates.

"So if you were to mysteriously disappear, things might get ugly for your kidnapper?" Vivianna gauged.

"That is an odd thing to say, but yes I suppose it's true. There would be a public outcry from our fans, of course, but my band wouldn't rest until I was found, and my kidnapper was brought to justice. The three of them are the ones you really have to look out for. Roger has an ugly temper. Brian would do just about anything to protect us. And Deaky..." I smiled just thinking about my sweet loyal Deaky who could turn deadly within seconds if tempted. "He's the most underestimated member of our group because he's such a cutie, so I would advise not messing with him. Let me tell you his nasty glares could kill you in your spot. God I love him so damn much. All of his facets, the good, the bad and the ugly, I love it all. I wish we could get married, but it's illegal."

Why was I so talkative all of a sudden? I never delved into my personal life like this let alone with strangers. I was usually very shy about my non stage persona unless I was with people I fully trusted.

I took another sip of tea. "This is really bloody good. Is there anything you put in here to make it taste better?"

"Truth potion with a splash of lemon juice." Vivianna said.

"Truth potion?" I laughed. "What kind of voodoo are you pulling on me?"

"I appreciate honesty, and what you gave me was very honest. Your band cares for you deeply, and you are in love with the one named Deaky."

"Madly in love." I blurted. Shit! Maybe it was a placebo or something but this "truth potion" felt very real to me.

Suddenly I didn't feel so comfortable staying here any longer. Even though I loved the cats, Vivianna was starting to give me creepy vibes. "Anyway I should get going so my band doesn't worry. Thank you for the tea."

I made a dash for the front door, but I paused when I noticed a small black cat poking its head around the corner. The familiarity was undeniable. "Pixie?" I cried in disbelief. I ran over to her to get a closer look. Sure enough, it was Brian's lost kitten. Only she had grown considerably since I last saw her.

"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed. "We thought you were gone, darling! Brian has been so depressed without you. I can't wait to bring you back home."

Pixie mewled frantically as if she were trying to tell me something. I tried my best to understand. "I know. We've missed you too, dear." Still she continued to meow as if I weren't comprehending. What was I missing? "What is it, Pixie, what are you trying to tell me?"

Pixie whimpered and backed away from Vivianna as she stepped closer. Pixie was always a very friendly kitten and was never afraid of humans, so this was rather odd behavior. Could I be mistaking her with a different cat? No, it had to be Pixie. It looked just like her, and she responded to her name.

"I found poor Hopscotch here all alone on the street and decided to take her in. She had no collar or identification so I assumed she was a stray." Vivianna explained. "But it seems she's found her rightful owner."

"Come here, Pixie." I cooed. "Let's get you back home. Brian will be so happy to see you again!" Pixie responded to my call and jumped into my arms mewling aggressively. "I know you're eager to get home. Come on, darling."

The cat was heavier than I remembered, but like I said, she had grown. Still I carried her to the door. One look out the window told me the snow had only gotten worse. I hesitated. Was it really a good idea to go out there? Vivianna was probably only joking about the truth potion. Old people have weird senses of humor. It was probably best to wait for it to clear up however long that would take. I put Pixie back down trying my best to ignore her cries. "Sorry, darling. It's snowing too hard for us to leave right now. We're going to have to wait."

"Yes. It's miserable outside." Vivianna agreed. "You might want to stay the night."

I shushed Pixie and the other cats who were meowing like crazy. This wasn't natural. Why were the cats so upset? There was nothing I could do though. But I should tell the boys that I was alright. "Do you mind if I use your phone?"

"Go right ahead." Vivianna led me to her phone.

I dialed the number, and Brian answered on the first ring with a rather distraught hello. "Bri, it's me."

"Freddie!" There was a clear relief evident in his voice. "Where the hell have you been? We were worried sick. We were going to call the police!"

"I'm fine. I just got caught up in the storm, and this nice old lady is letting me stay in her manor until the weather lightens up." I spoke quickly so I could get to the good news. "You'll never guess who I found. Pixie's here! Vivianna, the woman I'm with, found her."

The line went silent. "Brian? Are you still there?" "Freddie, are you sure it's really her?" Brian sounded almost afraid as if he didn't want to let himself down.

"I'm positive, darling. She responded to me when I called her Pixie even though Vivianna has been calling her Hopscotch this entire time."

Brian exhaled. "I knew it was too good to be true. That can't be Pixie or else Vivianna would have called me. Pixie had my contact information as well as her name on her collar, so she wouldn't be called Hopscotch either."

My heart sank. Could I have been wrong? I was so certain. "Are you sure Pixie had her collar on when she ran away? Vivianna found her without it."

"I can't find that collar anywhere, and I almost never took it off of her, but it is possible that she wasn't wearing it when she ran away. Maybe the collar fell off while she was roaming the streets. When the weather gets better I'll go see this cat for myself and determine if it's really Pixie. You stay there with her in the meantime. It's too dangerous to go outside anymore. Temperatures are dropping very quickly."

"Okay." I agreed. "Send my love to the boys, especially my Deaky."

"Here, I'll put John on for you." The line went silent for a moment but then a very familiar voice picked up. "Freddie, are you safe? Where are you?"

"I'm okay, my love. You don't have to worry about me. This sweet old lady is letting me crash in her manor. I'm surrounded by cats so I couldn't be happier." I purposefully omitted the strange behavior of the cats so he wouldn't be concerned. I could still lie. Truth potion wasn't real. I was just overreacting. There was nothing for me to worry about. Vivianna was nothing more than a lonely old cat lover.

"Did you run away because of the song?" John inquired. "Because we're not mad at you at all. Whatever it is you have written is sure to be amazing, and even if it isn't we can help you make it even better!"

I had completely forgotten about my champion song. Honestly, the break from fretting over it was rather welcomed. I had been losing sleep and been on edge lately. The tea really settled my nerves. Maybe with this clear and refreshed head, I could return to the drawing board and come up with something victorious. "I didn't run away, darling. I told you I just needed some air, and now I got caught in the bad weather. We'll be together again soon, so don't you fret. I love you." I said. "I promise you lots of cuddles when I get back."

"Lots and lots of cuddles." Deaky agreed. "I love you, too, Freddie. Stay safe." I sighed when the line went silent. I wanted those cuddles now. Oh well. At least my friends knew where I was and that I hadn't died of hypothermia.

"Are you working on a song?" I dropped the phone when I realized Vivianna was watching me. She had appeared out of nowhere. "Sorry, darling, you startled me."

"Don't mind me." She said. "I couldn't help but overhear you on the phone with your boyfriend. He said something about a song."

"Yes. I'm trying to write a new song, and the deadline for our album is coming up." I explained.

"You sound troubled." Vivianna noted. "Is it not coming out the way you planned?"

I shook my head. "The problem is that nothing is coming out at all. I can't seem to come up with anything worthy of what I'm trying to achieve. I want a big anthem like song that makes you feel like a champion, but...well I feel like a loser because I keep racking my head for inspiration and coming up short. And I've got no time for losers. My band and our fans are counting on me to have this song finished before the deadline. I'm counting on myself to get it done as well, and I've never let myself down before."

How could I confess all that to a stranger and not my brothers and boyfriend who I was supposed to confide in about the songwriting process? I didn't want to believe in the truth potion, but this was getting a bit uncanny.

"I think you're being too hard on yourself." Vivianna said. "You're creating your own stress by placing these expectations onto yourself."

"I'm usually able to surpass my own expectations." I said. "It's hard work, but once our albums are completed, it's always so worthwhile. I know if I put my mind to it, I'll create something that the boys and I will be proud of just like all my other hits. I just need to push myself."

"Maybe what you need is a change in perspective." She suggested.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Think about what life would be like if you were a cat." Vivianna said arbitrarily, but she sounded dead serious.

"It would be nice." I laughed. "I treat my cats like princes and princesses. They're more spoiled and pampered than me."

"Do you think a cat would be put under pressure by deadlines and expectations? No, they're lives are nothing but fun. All they do is play, eat, and nap and do whatever they want." Vivianna reasoned.

"It's true." I agreed. "My cats listen to me, but I can't make them do anything unless they want to do it. No one tells them what to do or when to do it."

"Imagine how much creativity and inspiration that type of life could brew. All the songs you could write." Vivianna continued, but at this point I stopped taking her seriously.

"I love my cats with all my heart, but you're being ridiculous, darling. Not many humans can do what we do. Who in their right mind would think a cat is capable of writing hit songs?"

"I think you misunderstand me, Freddie.  _You_ would be the cat."

"I'm not sure I'm following." I said.

"Let me be blunt." Vivianna said. "I'm a witch, more specifically I'm a creature witch."

"What the hell was in that tea?" I laughed, thinking I had misheard her words. "Did you just say creature witch?"

"I have the power to turn people into animals," She stated matter-of-factly, "but like I said, cats are my favorite."

"You're mad, but I'll play along." I decided there was no problem in humoring her. "Tell me, darling, are all these cats of yours really people?"

"No, not all of them. Hopscotch and Snowball are real cats for example." Vivianna said. "I adopt strays in need of a home, but the same applies to humans."

"So you adopt stray humans?" I concluded. Vivianna nodded as if that statement weren't preposterous. Maybe I should risk going out in the blizzard. Did I really want to spend the night with this insane lady?

"Sometimes humans are lost or in need of help, so I give them what they desire." Vivianna said. "You seem a bit lost yourself, Freddie."

"No, dear. I know where I am. I'm just here because of the storm. As soon as the weather clears, I'll be out of your way."

"Maybe not physically lost, but lost creatively perhaps? You're lost in the process of writing this champion song of yours." She clarified. "I could help you."

"You think the solution is to become a cat?" I snickered. "Darling, you are utterly insane! How could that ever help my situation even if it were possible?"

"You don't believe me, do you?" Vivianna frowned. "No." I told her. "Why should I? No sane person would ever believe you. People can't become animals. Witches and magic aren't real."

"But if they were real," Vivianna ventured, "wouldn't you want this opportunity?"

"The opportunity to become a cat? I love cats. They're wonderful creatures, but I never really thought about becoming one. Why would I ever want to?"

"No worries or responsibilities. Just playtime, naps, and treats. Who wouldn't want to be a cat?" She reasoned.

"I suppose it would be fun." I conceded. "Cats are so elegant and poised. I just love them."

"So is that a yes?" Vivianna grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Darling, you're not serious. I can't become a cat."

"Why not?" She pouted.

"Because it's impossible." I said dryly. "Besides I can't just leave everything behind. What about Queen? Our fans pay to hear me sing not meow. The boys would have fun cuddling with me as a cat, but eventually they'll want their human companion back, and I would miss talking to them and making music with them. And what would happen to me and John? We would have to break up. How could it ever work between us if I'm a bloody cat?"

I considered going on about how cats couldn't smoke or drink, but I made my point. I would remain human and stay king of the cats instead of a fellow feline. I preferred it that way. What was I even saying? There was no other way. Vivianna either enjoyed messing with me or was totally out of her mind.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Freddie. You would have made such a good kitty. It's too bad you didn't say yes."

"It's not possible anyway, so this conversation is rather pointless." I reiterated.

She smiled again. "Can I show you that it's real? Please, Freddie! Let me demonstrate my magic." 

I shrugged. What was she going to do, dress me up as a cat? I wasn't particularly against that idea. It was going to be a long night. I might as well have some entertainment. "Alright. You have my attention darling. Show me what you can do, all powerful witch." This would certainly be amusing even if I was feeding into her delusions. 

Vivianna applauded. "I'm so excited!" She exclaimed. "Now have a seat, and be sure to keep perfectly still."

I abided and sat down. Vivianna crouched slightly so we were at eye level. Then she snapped her fingers, and there was a sudden explosion of blinding bright white light. An odd tingling sensation ran through my entire body, but I blacked out before I could realize what was happening.

I blinked open my eyes feeling rather funny. I was still seated on the chair, but it seemed as if I had gotten smaller. I tried to get up off the chair, but walking felt unnatural. I tumbled down onto all fours feeling so much more secure now that all my paws were grounded rather than just my hind ones. Wait...

I looked down at where my hands should have been but they were replaced by furry paws. My arms were covered in a thick coat of white fur as well. I was dreaming. Could I really be a cat right now? This couldn't be the real life. It had to be fantasy. 

I jumped back in shock when I saw my reflection in the glassy legs of the table that now stood over my head. The only thing recognizable about me were my eyes and even they had changed. They were still the deep rich dark color, but they had widened and rounded significantly. Other than that all I saw was a cat who most certainly was not me. My fur was white with black and brown splotches covering my back and parts of my face. A brown and black tail was swishing back and forth behind me, but I was still taking in the tall black ears, cute pink nose, and whiskers. I was the kind of cat I would love to cuddle and play with just like Delilah. 

"Do you believe me now?" I felt my ears perk up in response to Vivianna's voice. She was smiling as she stared down at me.

" _What the hell did you do to me, you crazy bitch?"_ Is what I wanted to say. What actually came out of my mouth was a series of agitated meows.

"Oh there's no need to thank me." Vivianna laughed. "I'm going to check on that pot pie in the oven. Why don't you go do some exploring? I'm sure the manor is much more fun now that you're a playful kitty."

" _What the fuck? You can't just leave me like this! Change me back this instant!"_ Again, all that came out were angered hisses and mewls.

I chased after Vivianna, attempting to swipe at her with my claws. How dare she do this to me! I managed to rip the bottom of her black dress. It got her to turn around and face me. "Bad kitty!" Vivianna scolded.

" _Bad witch!"_ I responded digging my claws into her black stalkings beneath the dress. I made a rip, but before I could continue to scratch into her leg, she picked me up.

" _Put me down!"_ I shouted even though it was nothing more than a useless meow.

Vivianna carried me into a room with several scratching posts, bawls of yarn, and toys lying around. Other cats playing in the room all scattered and hid as soon as Vivianna arrived. She placed me down atop the highest scratching post which she has to stand on her tiptoes in order to reach. I knew this cat body was more agile and built for jumping and climbing, but it was still a long way down.

"I know this is new to you, Freddie, but you need to follow the rules. You may only scratch things here in the playroom that are meant to be scratched like the toys and the scratching posts. Otherwise I'll have to clip your claws, and that can be very painful." Vivianna sternly threatened. Then she cheekily grinned and shifted back into her chipper mode. "Have fun! I'll call you when it's time for supper."

I wanted to kill that bitch. How was I going to get down from here? More importantly, how was I ever going to get back to normal? 

" _New cat?"_ Somehow I understood the meows of the cats who emerged from their hiding places. _"Looks scared out of his mind." "Probably another human." "When will they learn not to trust this witch?" "He won't be here very long. Thankfully for us, Vivianna always picks the human cats to go first ."_  They returned to their activities of scratching, rolling in the yarn, and licking themselves clean. I observed in wonder watching them communicate.

 _"How's the escape plan going, Snow?"_ A cat tangled in yarn asked his companion who was curled up in a ball resting. I recognized the sleepy cat as Snowball.  _"I almost had it. I was out, but then a human chased me back to the rose garden. He was going to rescue me, but then Vivianna locked us both back in this prison."_

Was Vivianna really that cruel of an owner to the normal cats? If I ever got back to normal, I would adopt all of these cats. If they proved to be too much for me and Deaky to handle, I'd find suitable homes for them where they never had to be afraid or try to escape. The furry friends deserved to be loved and cherished. Of course I would have to find a way to reverse the witch's spell to save myself first. I couldn't look after all these cats plus my own when I was a cat myself.

I was still perched high above the ground on top of the scratching post. One of the cats below glanced up at me curiously and then return to his yarn. " _Yes. This one's a human for sure. He's too afraid to jump."_

 _"Should we help him down?"_ Snowball wondered.

_"Let him figure it out on his own. Cats always land on their feet. It's best not to associate with the human cats. Remember what happened to Cookie?"_

The cats stopped playing and bowed their heads as if they were having a moment of silence. Whatever happened to Cookie the cat was obviously not a good thing. It looked like I wouldn't be having any help from my four legged companions. I was going to have to get down from here all on my own.

"I can do this." I told myself. Having watched my cats move and jump from place to place over the years, I was familiar with their mannerisms. I mimicked them by arching my back and pushing back my shoulders. I made a daring leap downward landing gracefully on all fours without a single stumble. I mewled excitedly at my achievement.

With adrenaline rushing through my blood, I had a sudden stream of inspiration. There was no way for me to write down the melody that was coming to me, so I would just have to store it in my brain for now, but I liked what I was hearing. It was a heavy chorus, very anthem like exactly as I envisioned. I would probably pair it with lighter verses on the piano. I didn't have lyrics yet, but I imagined all of us, the audience included, belting the words to the chorus in between my solo piano verses. It would have to be something very simple but powerful nonetheless.

 _"Didn't take him as long as most of the other human cats to figure out how to jump. Maybe he'll fit in here if he's around long enough to get used to being a cat."_ One of the cats interrupted my creative process.

I really had to get my priorities in check. Escape first, write We Are the Champions later. If I could get back to Brian and Roger's mansion, maybe the boys could help me return to my human self so I could put this song to pen and paper properly. Once I was back to normal, I'd come back here and rescue all the cats and possible other human cats from this evil witch. 

 _"I'm going to help him."_ Snowball decided. He ignored the protests of the others and approached me.  _"Hello human cat. My name is Snowball. Welcome to hell."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it looks like Freddie's situation is far from purrrrfect (tee hee sorry I couldn't resist). There's much more to come so stay tuned!


	3. Keep Passing the Open Windows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddie finds out the horrifying truth behind why Vivianna kidnaps people and cats. Meanwhile, Brian and Roger comfort Deaky on his first night without Freddie since the two started dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between this and Four Magical Misfits it seems like talking animals are a common theme in my stories for some reason. I have no clue why. Anyway this chapter takes a dark twist as we find out what Vivianna REALLY wants from the kitties and why they're all so afraid of her.
> 
> But before we get to it I have an announcement. I'm thinking of turning this and The Incredible Shrinking Deaky into a full series of four books where each one of the Queen members encounters a witch. I'm open for suggestions on what kind of bizarre thing could happen to Brian and Roger. Their books will be more focused on Maylor while obviously these first two are more Deacury centered.

_"Hello human cat. My name is Snowball. Welcome to hell."_

What a grim introduction.To make matters worse, several of the cats left the room in frustration when Snowball spoke to me, evidently not wishing to engage with a human cat. Now I was alone with Snowball and two other cats, a male and a female with fluffy long cats. The male was a mixture of tan and black while the female was all grey.

Snowball was still awaiting a response from me. I talked to my cats all the time, but obviously this was the first time I'd be having a real conversation with one. I was hoping for something a bit happier than "welcome to hell", but it was fitting of the situation we were in. I automatically held out my paw as if I could initiate a handshake, but there wasn't much point in that, so I put it back down. " _We met before, darling. I'm the one who found you in the rose garden. I'm Freddie."_

 _"Ah. You were the one who was supposed to take me to the big comfy mansion, but instead you walked right into Vivianna's trap. I tried to warn you, but you just wouldn't listen."_ Snowball replied.

_"If I could have understood you, I would have listened. Do you know any way to reverse the spell or if I could find a way to convince Vivianna to reverse it. Maybe if I sing for her, she'll_ _agree to_ _—Fuck! I can't sing anymore."_

The devastating realization should have hit me earlier, but it didn't. It was all dawning upon me now, and I knew that I would find a way to undo this mess, but I was still freaking out.  What was I going to do if this was permanent or if I couldn't escape? Not only would I never sing again, but I'd never see my family again. Sure, Brian and Deaky called so they knew I was here, but I didn't leave an address. Even if they did show up here looking for me, they wouldn't be able to recognize me, and I wouldn't be able to tell them that I was here. They'd just see a crazy cat.

 _"What am I going to do?"_ I mewled.

" _You'll be fine if you stay away from Vivianna, and try not to eat her food unless you're really hungry. In the meantime just enjoy the yarn!"_ The tan fluffy cat advised as he gnawed at a ball of yarn.  _"I'm Bubbles by the way."_

 _"I can show you some of my favorite hiding places for when she comes."_ The female cat offered. _"My name is Muffins."_

_"No. That's very kind of you dear, but hiding from Vivianna will get me nowhere. I know she's dangerous, but I need to get her to reverse the spell somehow. I can't spend the rest of my life like this. And once I'm back to normal, I can rescue you all and get you out of here. You'll all get along great with my cats. They'll welcome you in with open paws."_

Bubbles hissed disapprovingly.  _"You need to stay away from Vivianna unless you want to end up in her next batch of unlucky cats. That's why we all_ _avoid_ _the human cats. They tend to be the ones she picks. Our friend Cookie befriended one of the human cats and tried to help him, but they both paid the price in the end."_

I knew Vivianna wasn't to be trusted and did something dreadful to make the cats fear her. Still, I wasn't expecting something as ghastly as murder like Bubbles was implying. I prayed my assumption was wrong. What kind of a twisted person killed cats or turned humans into cats in order to kill them?

If I could somehow get in touch with Brian, I'd have him expose Vivianna through one of his animal rights organizations and she would be sent to prison. Cruella Deville wouldn't get away with this!

_Roger's POV_

I regretted filming the music video out in the freezing cold, but I had too much pride to say anything to the others. Even though the footage came out great, I felt a cold coming on because of our time spent outside. I hated getting sick! I curled on the couch with a thick blanket over me as I flipped through the Magic Times, a secret newspaper only wizards and witches could subscribe to.

I loved being a wizard despite having to keep it a secret. Still, there were somethings I wish I was still unaware of. As the saying goes ignorance is bliss. Every day a new horrifying story would pop up in the pages of the Magic Times talking about the fucked up things witches and wizards would do to humans. Most of the time they got away with it as well.

Brian, Freddie and John couldn't remember what happened to us last year, but I certainly did. What if Deaky had gotten crushed or eaten by an animal? We were so lucky to get him back to his normal size. Others weren't so fortunate.

I felt sick to my stomach reading today's article about the anniversary of a notorious trial against Vivianna Witchingson, a creature witch who allegedly kidnapped and killed humans. Her victims would disappear with nothing but cat fur left behind. However, the jury didn't find the cat fur left at the scene of the crime to be enough evidence to have her convicted, so she got to go free.

"Mischief managed!" I whispered as I saw Brian approaching. The newspaper morphed into a magazine featuring various sports cars.Brian didn't suspect a thing.

He put his lips to my forehead. "You feel warm. I think you're coming down with a fever. Why don't we turn in early for the night? Some rest will do you good."

"Shouldn't we wait up for Freddie to make sure he gets home safely?" I shut my eyes focusing intently on when he'd be back. My powers didn't seem to be working at the moment. Freddie's future was a blur to me. It must be my cold messing with my ability to see into the future.

"It's alright, love." Brian assured me. "I talked to Freddie on the phone earlier. He's spending the night with a kind elderly woman who's letting him weather the storm in her manor. Freddie even claims the woman found Pixie and has been taking care of her this whole time, but I don't want to give my hopes up. There are a lot of stray black kittens who could be mistaken for mine."

I had scanned our future countless times to see if we were ever reunited with Pixie. It broke my heart to know that she really was all dead and gone. Just for the hell of it, I tried examining the future again again, but my powers were off. Everything in our future seemed fuzzy. Even my favorite future memory of us performing at Live Aid was hazy... Strangely enough, I could see myself, Brian and Deaky clear as day. It was Freddie who seemed to have some sort of a veil over him that blocked him from my view. Maybe it wasn't my powers that were out of whack, but something that had happened to Freddie.

"Roggie, what's the matter?" Brianasked sensing my distress.

I couldn't explain to Brian that my visions of Freddie's future were disrupted. If I spilled my secret, the magic council could erase his memory of me and do everything in their power to keep us apart. But Freddie could be in trouble. I had to get that across to Brian somehow.

"When you talked to Freddieon the phone, did he sound okay?" I asked tentatively.

"Yeah. He sounded fine. John spoke to him as well. We don't need to worry, Rog. Let's go to bed. First thing in the morning if Freddie isn't back, we'll go out looking for him. But I have a feeling he'll be back home safe and sound." Brian promised.

I was tired and wanted nothing more than to cuddle up in bed with my boyfriend. Maybe it was just my cold messing with my powers after all. I trusted Brian's judgement. Things would be more clear to me after I got some rest.

_John's POV_

What was wrong with me? I was a total wreck! I couldn't stop thinking about how much I missed Freddie even though I spoke to him on the phone and knew he was safe.

I had turned in early alongside Brian and Roger. They were letting me stay over at the mansion for the night because of the weather. Now I was in bed shivering from the cold, longing for Freddie's warm and loving arms around me.

This was my first night without him since we started dating.Until today I considered myself a mature adult, but now I felt like a small child wrapped in blankets crying along with the roaring winds of the storm outside.

This was ridiculous! I was a grown man. "Pull yourself together because you know you should do better." I gave myself a pep talk consisting of my own lyrics.

Shivering, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash some warm water on my face and dry my tears away.

I jumped when the bathroom light went out without warning. I caught my breath and waited for my heart to restart. The storm must have knocked out the power. That meant it would get very cold very fast.Maybe Brian and Roger had extra blankets in their room that I could borrow.

I made my way through the darkness to my best friends' room. Not making the same mistake of walking in on them kissing in the studio the other day, I knocked on the door.

"Bri, what was that? Oh God someone's breaking in!" I heard Roger cry.

"No, it's me." I stammered. "Um me as in Deaky, not a burglar." I felt the need to clarify. "Can I come in please?"

Brian opened the door holding a flashlight. "Sorry about the outage. The generator should be up and running within the next few minutes."

"No, it's no problem. Do you have any extra blankets I could borrow?"

"The blankets belong to us!" Roger growled possessively. "I'm cold!"

"It's only going to get colder." Brian shivered. "Blankets may not be enough. John, I know this might sound strange and you don't have to agree to it, but according to thermodynamics we could conduct heat quickly by transferring it from _—"_

 _"—_ Oh for fuck's sake!" Roger cut him off. "Deaks, get in bed and cuddle with us. We need your body heat!"

"That would be the nonscientific way to put it, but yes." Brian remarked. "Do you mind Deaky? At least until the power comes back on."

"I don't mind." I said getting beneath the covers next to Roger. Roger wrapped his arms around me. Brian came around on the other side of me and did the same. I was sandwiched between the guitarist and drummer being kept very warm and secure.

"Freddie doesn't have anyone to keep him warm." I realized. I choked back on my tears when I was once again reminded of how much I missed him.

"Oh. Freddie will manage. He wouldn't want you crying. I know that much." Brian shushed me.

Roger snuggled a bit closer to me putting his head beneath my chin while Brian brushed the tears from my eyes.

"Wanna play a game to take your mind off things?" Roger offered. He made up his mind before I could say yes or no. "If you could be any animal in the world what would you be and why?"

"I-I don't know."

"Well I'd be a lion." Roger said as if he had been giving this a lot of thought. "They're loud and badass just like me."

"I imagine you more as a golden retriever. Cute, loyal, but very mischievous at times." Brian countered. "I think I'd want to be a badger."

"No way, Bri! You're a poodle and you know it." Roger snickered. "If I'm a golden retriever then we can both be dogs together."

Brian laughed. "What about you, Deaky? Have you made your mind up yet?"

"Dunno. Maybe a rabbit or something. I've never been asked that question before. I need time to think about it."

"Fair enough." Roger said.

"You know who wouldn't even have to think about it?" I knew this exercise was supposed to help me not think about him but I couldn't resist. "Freddie."

"Oh for sure. He would say cat on his first answer. No hesitation whatsoever." Roger agreed.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Brian said.

Then I remembered Freddie telling me over the phone that he was surrounded by cats. I took comfort in the idea of him cuddling with his furry friends to keep warm. I yawned and shut my eyes.

"He'll be okay." Brian whispered.

"We've got you, Deaks." Roger consoled.

There was a sudden buzzing sound, and the heat soon kicked on with the power of the generator coming to life.

"Hallelujah! The power is back on!" Roger exclaimed, but he didn't move from his position snuggled against my chest. Neither did Brian. I found myself growing content in their arms.

"D-Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?" I blurted awkwardly.

"I thought you'd never ask." Roger said. "We wouldn't mind it at all." Brian assured me.

"Goodnight." I yawned. "Love you boys."

"We love you too Deaky." Brian said. "Mmhm. Love you, John." Roger sleepily agreed.

"Love you, Freddie." I whispered. "Goodnight wherever you are."

_Freddie's POV_

" _Why should I do my sentence when I've committed no crime? Vivianna is the true criminal. There must be some way to stop her!"_ I urged the cats.

At this point, I only had the attention of Snowball. Bubbles was busy rolling and clawing at his ball of yarn, and Muffins was taking a nap. In the process of getting all tangled up in the yarn, Bubbles kicked back one of the other balls of yarns lying there waiting to be played with. I watched it roll, suddenly entranced and fixated. It was so tempting to just forget everything and go chase it.

The lights suddenly flickered and went out altogether, but oddly enough I could still see everything perfectly fine. In fact, my vision may have gotten better in the dark. I knew cats had night vision, but I didn't expect to inherit that trait along with this new body. Snowball looked around for the source of the power outage and Muffins's ears twitched in her sleep. Bubbles didn't concern himself and continued to play in the yarn. I really didn't blame him. Something about that yarn was just so enticing. I shook my head. I couldn't get distracted with such frivolous things. I had to form an escape plan.

" _Snowball, darling, when I found you in the rose garden, you must have gotten out somehow. How did you do it?"_

_"I've escaped once or twice, but somehow I always end up back here. It's worse than the kennel I swear! At least in the kennel, they only put down the old and sick cats. I've seen Vivianna take kittens away in her basket. Kittens!"_

There was no mistaking that Vivianna did intend on murdering us starting with the human cats, but I told myself I was misinterpreting the cats' implications. The thought was too sickening.  _"Why the hell would she ever want to bring harm to cats and kittens like this?"_  I cried.

Another cat came sprinting into the room panting and whimpering before collapsing alongside Muffins. It was Pixie or at least the cat who I thought was Pixie. She got Bubbles's attention away from the yarn.  _"Pixie,_ _"_ Bubbles confirmed this cat's identity, " _what's the matter? What happened?"_

 _"The food..."_ Pixie whined _. "It's just too yummy...I couldn't resist. I can still smell it even from in here."_

At the mention of food, my nose wiggled, and I picked up on a scent from downstairs. Pixie wasn't wrong. It smelled delicious. I licked my lips.

 _"I told you, honey, don't eat the food unless you're absolutely starving."_ Bubbles warned.  _"Here. Distract yourself with some yarn."_

Bubbles used his nose to nudge the ball of yarn toward Pixie, but it rolled in my direction instead. I couldn't resist myself any longer. I pounced onto the yarn, watching it unravel all around me, and rolling in it until I was a tangled mess. Why did I feel the need to do this? And why was it so satisfying?

" _Look at that! You're already starting to get cat brain."_ Snowball exclaimed. " _It usually takes a day or two before the human cats start to go into cat mode, but it seems like you're a natural. This is good. You can rely on your cat instincts to keep yourself safe from Vivianna like the rest of us. You won't end up like the other human cats."_

I abruptly stopped playing with the yarn and spit out the piece I was biting. So it was more than just the cat body and new senses I had gained. I was going to start to become a real cat if I didn't find a way to reverse the spell soon.

" _Freddie, is that you?"_ Pixie joined me in the streams of yarn. She sniffed me first, her whiskers tickling against my fur, before nuzzling against me and purring. I purred back, not sure if it was voluntary or not.

 _"You two know each other?"_  Bubbles asked.

" _Of course. Freddie was my human's best friend."_  Pixie explained. " _He came over and visited us, and we would go to visit him and his cats too. It's no wonder he's getting cat brain so quickly, he was so attached to his cats. We all loved him. Even though he wasn't my human, he was good to me too."_

I ignored the way Pixie referred to me in the past tense. I was still me and soon I'd be a man again. I convinced myself that cat brain didn't mean I'd completely lose my humanity. It only meant that I'd become more distracted by things like yarn. I directed my focus back onto Pixie.

 _"How did you end up here, darling?_ _"_ I inquired. " _And why does Vivianna keep calling you Hopscotch? Did you have your collar on when you ran away?"_

_"I think so. I didn't mean to run away._ _Brian and I_ _were in the garden in our new big home, and I saw a pretty butterfly. I chased it, and then I got lost. I miss my human. Freddie, can you still take me home to Brian? I wanna go home really bad. I don't like it here. Vivianna wants to eat me."_

_"WHAT?"_ I shrieked. 

 _"That's what she does."_ Snowball remarked.  _"She feeds us with an addicting food mix so we won't be able to stop eating. Then she picks whoever she deems plumpest and tastiest and puts them in her basket to be taken to the kitchen to be washed and shaven and baked into a pot pie."_

 _"It's why the human cats are the first to go."_  Bubbles elaborated.  _"They get addicted to the food mix faster than normal cats_ _and gain weight quicker_ _."_

Was that why all the cats were on the chubbier side and how Pixie had grown to about the size of a normal cat while she was still a kitten? It made sense now. They wanted to avoid the human cats because the human cats would bring them closer to the food and their doom. That was probably what happened to Cookie. Now I felt even more disgusted than before. I gagged expecting to vomit, but I did nothing more than cough up a hairball.

The lights turned back on, and I had to blink several times to readjust. I really could see better in the dark. Maybe this was a good thing though. If the power was back on it meant the storm was getting better and I could make my escape.

Muffins woke up from her nap.  _"What did I miss?"_

" _Pixie knows Freddie."_  Snowball filled her in. " _He was friends with Pixie's human."_

Again with the past tense. It bothered me. " _I_ ** _am_** _friends with Brian."_

 _"Freddie the human is friends with him, but Freddie the cat doesn't know him."_ Muffins said. " _Sorry to be so blunt, but we've met so many misguided human cats like you. Vivianna won't change you back. You'll try to go to her begging for a reversal spell, but instead all she'll do is feed you lots and lots of food to fatten you up. The human cats who survive the longest here are those who embrace their cat brain and transition into complete cat mode so they forget about their human selves."_

That was what I was afraid to hear. I couldn't let that happen to me. But even if I escaped Vivianna, I'd still be a cat. The longer I stayed this way, the closer I be to slipping into cat mode forever. Regardless, anywhere was better than being stuck in the manor of this cannibal. I had to get out of here.

_"Snowball, you never answered my question, dear. How did you get out when I found you in the rose garden? And if all this is true, then why haven't the rest of you tried your luck at escaping?"_

_"Most of us are strays, Freddie."_ Muffins said.  _"We have nowhere to go."_

 _"Vivianna gives us toys and doesn't lock us away in cages like they do at the kennel."_ Bubbles said.

 _"You poor lovies."_ I cooed. " _I'd adopt you all if I could, but I'll need your help escaping first."_

 _"Escaping is a very delicate matter."_ Snowball said. " _You have to follow Vivianna around and wait for her to open a door or a window. But if she sees you, she'll try to feed you or put you in her kitty pot pie basket to be taken away. Then it's game over."_

 _"Well if you keep passing the open windows, eventually one of them is bound to lead to freedom."_ I contended. " _What about you, Pixie, darling? You say you want to go home and you miss Brian. You're not a stray. You have a home to return to and a human who loves you very much. Have you tried escaping?"_

 _"I'm scared."_ Pixie whimpered.  _"Vivianna says that Brian doesn't want me back and I should forget about him. My new name is Hopscotch and she's my human now. I know it's not true, but I'm still too scared to escape. What if Vivianna catches me? I can't stop eating her food and soon I'll end up in her basket."_

I found myself purring again when I recalled what a happy little kitten Pixie was with Brian. She was never so afraid like this. But now the poor thing was quivering and shaking in the yarn. Her fearful mewls broke my heart. I couldn't let this heartless witch eat anymore of my furry friends.

" _She's a very clever witch_." Snowball said. " _She knows precisely what she's doing. She manipulates the runaways and removes their collars so they can't return home to their humans. I assume she used the truth potion trick on you?"_

Now I knew that the truth potion was quite real, but I wasn't sure why Vivianna bothered putting it in my tea. Why bother collecting information on me if she just intended on discarding me into a fucked up pot pie?  " _Why did she do that?_ " I asked. 

" _Her spell can only work if a second party agrees to it. She uses the truth potion to figure out what will tempt you to say yes to becoming a cat. She also determines those closest to you so she can get in contact with them and give them the unfortunate news that you died a mysterious and sudden death. Most believe her, but if the human families do show up with questions, she usually repeats the process and turns them into cats."_ Snowball explained.

Well I did warn Vivianna that if anything were to happen to me, my boys would come after her in the middle of the night and wouldn't stop until they sought their revenge. I also told her that as a celebrity, there would be a very public outcry from my fans. Clearly, the witch heeded none of these warnings. In other words, she messed with the wrong cat. 

 


	4. Caviar and Kibbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddie comes across another human cat, and the boys come across Freddie (but they can't figure out that it's him).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the others at a little over 6000 words. We will meet some new cat characters. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and leaving your comments and kudos!

With the promise of being adopted into a safe and loving home with all the yarn they could get their paws on, I convinced my furry friends to help me escape. Although Snowball remained skeptical that it would work, he still tagged along. The first thing we planned to do was explore the manor and look for any windows or doors that may have been left open by chance.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it beyond the playroom before my ears perked up at the sound of someone coming up the stairs. "Supper time!" Vivianna called.

The cats all scattered. Even Pixie fled the scene, and I was left alone. I scrambled back to the scratching post in an attempt to hide behind it, but it was too late. Vivianna had spotted me. She stepped directly in front of me, and leaned down to try to pick me up. The ugly hiss that escaped my throat surprised me, but I went with it. This was my equivalent of swearing at the hag.

"I know you're hungry, Freddie, but there's no need to be so fussy about it." She reprimand. I hissed again and climbed back up the scratching post to get away from her.

"You had your playtime already. Now it's supper time. Come on!" Vivianna extended her arms as if she expected me to jump into them. I stayed perched where I was, continuing to hiss at her hoping she would get the message.

"Maybe I should have turned you into a dog instead. They tend to be more obedient." She stood up on her tiptoes and made a grab for me before I could run again. I clawed and scratched at her as she carried me downstairs against my will. "Although dogs are far less delicious." She chuckled when she placed me down in front of a food bowl.

The sweet aroma was too overwhelming to pass up. Maybe I'd be able to resist if I had a look at what was being served. Cat food was so unappetizing. I could never understand how all my kitties could stomach the stuff. Only the food in the bowl didn't look anything like the disgusting wet globs or dry pebbles I fed to my cats. Whatever this was resembled caviar, my favorite dish.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Eat it!" Vivianna prompted. "It's a magical mixture meant to fancy every single one of the eater's taste buds. You'll love every bite."

Next to me was an adorable golden tabby kitten. She was devouring what appeared to be macaroni and cheese. However, there was a third cat with us and her bowl contained normal kibbles and bits just like a cat would eat. This white fluffy cat also turned her head head to the food and proceeded to chase her tail instead.

"Pearl, not you too! Why are you all passing up my delicious food? Aren't you hungry?" Vivianna demanded.

" _I'm not one of these stupid human cats. I know better than to trust you."_ Pearl hissed.  _"I'll starve before I eat your food."_

"I swear you cats are conspiring against me." She scoffed. "Well, I'm not letting any of you leave until you finish your bowls."

Vivianna retrieved a package of something from up on the table. Using her teeth, she ripped it open and poured a brownish powder down into the bowl of the kitten, and like magic the bowl filled even higher with more macaroni and cheese. "Have some more, sweetheart. My most loyal, Sammy, you are my favorite cat. You can have all the food you want."

" _It's so good!"_ Sammy proclaimed, sticking her face into the bowl to lick it clean. " _I love mac and cheese so much! My mom only makes it for me once a week."_

Shit! Sammy the kitten was a child and sounded rather young. Her parents were probably worried out of their minds. Still trying to resist the alluring scent of the caviar like meal, I used my paw to knock Sammy's bowl away to make her stop eating. She hissed at me.

_"Darling, I am doing you a favor. Vivianna is only feeding you like this so she can—"_

Vivianna grabbed me again and placed me back in front of my bowl before retrieving Sammy's bowl. " _Don't do it!"_  I shouted, but Sammy ignored me and proceeded to engulf the magical pasta.

" _Don't bother."_ Pearl said.  _"Once they're hooked, there's no stopping them. You might want to do something to distract yourself before the scent becomes too irresistible for you too."_ She swatted at her tail. " _Oh man! Almost had it that time!"_

Pearl stopped what she was doing when the phone rang, and again I felt my ears perk with their new sensitivity. Sammy kept eating. "None of you move or there will be trouble." Vivianna warned as she went to go answer the phone.

" _Now's our chance!_ " Pearl exclaimed. " _Come on, human cat, let's skedaddle!"_

Pearl made a run for it, but I stayed back and tried again to convince Sammy to stop eating. Snowball warned the Vivianna was not opposed to eating kittens who were the equivalent of children. I had to protect this little one.

Sammy noticed me approaching her and hissed again. " _Back off! You can eat your own meal. This super yummy mac and cheese belongs to me and me only!"_

I was about to explain to her that I was trying to avoid the food, not steal it, but then something made Sammy lift her head from the bowl. " _She's on the phone with my dad."_

With no strain, I was able to pick up the conversation Vivianna was having on the phone in the other room. "...I know this hard to believe, Mr. Samson, but little Samantha is gone. I saw it happen with my own eyes. The sweetheart had just finished selling me her girl scout cookies. I warned her to look both ways before crossing the street to go sell to the neighbor, but then this reckless drunk driver came out of nowhere and ran her down. He sped right along and left the scene of the crime, so I was the only witness..."

 _"That didn't happen."_ Sammy said.

"...They couldn't salvage the body. The car tore it to shreds, so what was left of her was donated to people in need of organs." Vivianna continued. "Hideous thing to see. I'm so glad you weren't there."

That lying bitch! How could she be this sociopathic? I wondered what she was going to tell my boys. Would they buy it? Would they the believe that I was all dead and gone?

"You take care, Mr. Samson. Again, my deepest condolences. Samantha seemed like a very sweet girl. She brought me a very delicious snack as well. I'll eat them in her loving memory." Obviously Vivianna wasn't referring to the girl scout cookies Sammy was selling.

Vivianna returned to our bowls frowning when she noticed Pearl's absence. "Why have you stopped eating, Sammy? Here, let me give you some more."

" _I'm ready to be turned back now. You said all I had to do was say the word and you'd change me back."_ Sammy desperately whined. " _I'm ready to go back now. Please. I wanna go home. Please."_

It broke my heart to hear her fearfully beg like that. I didn't know what to do. It was clear Vivianna wouldn't reverse the spell. Sammy was stuck in the same position as me, and her parents were told she was dead. How frightening that must be to anyone, let alone a small child?

"What are you trying to tell me, Sammy?" Vivianna asked almost teasingly. "Do you want me to reverse the spell and turn you back into a human?"

" _Yes! Yes! Please. I miss my family. I wanna go home. Please. I don't wanna be a cat anymore!"_ Her mewls were so frantic. It was dreadful to watch.  

Vivianna only chuckled. She leaned down so that her face was directly in front of Sammy's wide and horrified kitten eyes. "It's too bad I can't understand you. I don't know if you're really asking me to change you back, so to be on the safe side, I'll just keep you as a cat for now. Why don't you have some more food?"

" _You bitch!"_ I growled. In Vivianna's crouched position, I was able to reach her face, so I clawed at her cheek easily leaving a bleeding scratch. Success!

"Bad kitty!" Vivianna screamed in a fury. I saw her reach up for something on the table, but before I could react the vase of freezing cold water was dumped onto my entire body. My fur sagged and the icy water chilled me to the bone. Being drowsed was just so uncomfortable. Now I understood why my cats acted so defiantly whenever I bathed them. Of course I only subjected them to water when they were dirty, and I always made sure it was the perfect the temperature. The thought of deliberately pouring ice water on them was appalling. I shook in an attempt to dry myself off. Water droplets splattered everywhere.

"And now you're getting everything all wet!" Vivianna scolded. "You're lucky I'm a nice owner and won't punish you further. Just eat your food and try not to cause anymore trouble while I go make a very important phone call to a certain someone."

Vivianna opened her palm revealing a collar tag reading ' _Pixie May'_ followed by Brian's phone number. "It seems like Mr. May is having some bad luck. First he loses his cat, and then his best friend drops dead."

_Brian's POV_

_"Pixie, where are you?" I called. I looked around for the kitten as Roger packed more boxes. "She'll turn up." Roger said nonchalantly as he placed a box onto the moving truck. "Check the closet. You still need to pack your clogs."_

_Praying he was right, I went back inside and looked inside the closet. Unfortunately, I saw nothing but my unpacked clogs. I had a pair in nearly every color. Before I could close the door in frustration, I noticed one of the red clogs moving slightly. I stepped closer to examine, and then Pixie popped her tiny body out of the shoe. I laughed and picked her up, giving her a few kisses. "You scared me, you silly kitty cat! I really thought I had lost you."_

_Pixie purred happily in my arms. I gently put her back down but not before I attached the new tag to her collar with my updated phone number for the mansion Roger was convinced we could afford to move into. "Now don't go running off again. We're leaving to go to our new home soon, and I don't want you to be left behind." The kitten mewled something in response, but the meows changed into a sharp ringing like that of a telephone...'_

I tiredly opened my eyes. John was asleep next to me, and Roger was on his other side. The phone was ringing. "Briiiii, you go get it. I wanna sleeeep." Roger whined. Careful not to wake John, I made my way out of the bed.

"Hello?" I yawned into the phone. Who would call this late in the evening? Probably some insane fan who somehow got this number.

"Is this Brian May?" I could barely make out the woman's voice because of ruckus of meowing cats in the background. My heart skipped a beat. Maybe this woman found Pixie! "Speaking." I said.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news about your friend Freddie." The meowing seemed to get louder at the mention of the frontman. Was this the supposedly sweet old lady who was letting him stay for the night? I figured Freddie would be safe there, but now I was beginning to have second thoughts. "Is he okay?" I demanded. "Can I speak to him please?"

"He's not here. I'm so sorry. The ambulance just left with him. The paramedics tried their very best to revive him, but it wasn't looking good. I don't think he's going to make it."

"WHAT?" My panicked scream woke up Deaky and even Roger sluggishly got out of bed to see the commotion I was making. "What happened?" I cried.

"My cat, Snowball, got loose, and Freddie was such a dear he went out to rescue the little guy, but the storm was really bad. Freddie slipped in the ice, and fell unconscious. By the time I called the police it was too late. They took his body away in the ambulance, but they said they were only going to contact his family. His friends probably won't be allowed to see him in the hospital if he makes it there. I just thought you should know, and I had your number from when Freddie called you earlier."

"We're his brothers, but not by blood. Do you know what hospital Freddie was sent to? If they say family only, we'll force our way into there if we have to so we can be there for him. Freddie's a fighter. He'll make it."

It was even harder now to hear the woman's response with the cats and Deaky's wails upon hearing the words hospital and Freddie in the same sentence. Roger comforted him as he collapsed onto his knees in sobs. I tried my best to remain calm.

"I wouldn't bother going to that hospital. I'm telling you they won't let you in..." Her words were muffled by the frantic meows. "For the love of Merlin, shut up! Freddie, I swear if you don't behave yourself I'm going to—" The line went silent.

There was something suspicious going on, and we needed to get to the bottom of it to ensure Freddie's safety. It was wrong of us not to question Freddie's host (or should I say captor) and intervene sooner. We'd bail him out of whatever kind of trouble he had stumbled into.

"I-Is Freddie okay?" Deaky asked in a shaky whisper. Roger shut his eyes tightly as if he were concentrating deeply on something. "All I see are cats." He murmured.

"Listen, I don't trust this old woman." I said. "I think she might be holding Freddie hostage. I'm not sure if she wants money or if she's just an insane fan, but we need to find her manor and get Freddie out of there. I'd call the police, but I doubt they'd respond quickly enough in this blizzard and we don't have enough information yet."

"If she lays a hand on him I'm going to kill her." Deaky said darkly.

"We've got to find her first," Roger said his eyes still shut. "I know this is going to sound strange but I had this sort of vision of a manor with a rose garden that was able to grow in the snow. It's a few blocks from here. I think we should try looking there."

It was the only lead we had if Roger was correct. "Alright then. Grab your coats, boys. Let's go pay a visit to this crazy cat lady." I directed.

_Freddie's POV_

My boys think I'm in the hospital fighting to survive. I couldn't imagine the grief they were going through. At least Vivianna had me die a noble death. I would be remembered as the hero who went out into the blizzard to save Snowball. I preferred that narrative over the one where I wound up in a kitty pot pie.

While Vivianna was tending to the wounds my sharp claws gave her, I ushered Sammy away from the food and upstairs back to the playroom.

" _You were really brave to scratch her like that. She's probably very mad at you."_ Sammy said. " _I'm scared she might try to hurt you. What if she clips your claws?"_

" _We can't let her get away with this shit. Even if I lose my claws and my humanity in the process I'll keep_   _on fighting till the end."_ I vowed.

" _You're like a true champion of the cats, maybe even of the world."_ Sammy remarked. " _I wanna be like you."_

 _"We are the champions of the world."_ I marveled to myself. That was fucking brilliant! Too bad I was still a cat and couldn't get to the studio to further flesh out the song.

_"By the way my name is Samantha, but everybody calls me Sammy. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, but they literally make us go door to door selling cookies to strangers, so I think I can take my chances talking to you."_

_"Vivianna and people like her are the reason why you're not supposed to talk to strangers, but most people are good and don't do this twisted shit...Fuck! I need to stop swearing in front of children."_

_"It's okay. I know all the bad words from my big brother. He tells me to fuck off whenever I try to go into his room and play with his old toys and listen to his albums. He probably won't even be sad when my parents tell him I'm dead. I bet none of them will even miss me."_ Sammy said.

" _Darling why would you say a thing like that?"_  I cried.  _"I'm sure your family loves you and Vivianna's lies will devastate them."_

 _"That's not true."_  She argued. " _They hate me. They'd rather me be someone else. All I wanna do is try out for the football (*soccer in America*) team and the school will let me even though it's all boys, but my parents said no because they want me to be more ladylike. I'm not allowed to play with Tommy's old trading cards and action figures. They only give me Barbie dolls. And I always have to wear a stupid skirt or dress. Why can't I wear pants like the boys? Why do I have to sell cookies in a dress while the boy scouts get to go camping and learn how to start a fire in the woods? They actually get to have fun and do cool stuff. It's so dumb!"_

 _"It is dumb."_ I agreed. " _I came from a very strict and traditional background myself. My father especially didn't approve of my decisions. He wanted me to become a lawyer or an account of some sort, and I knew a desk job like that would make me miserable. So I followed my heart even though he didn't agree with many of my lifestyle choices. After a while, he saw how happy I was, and he eventually came around. But no matter what I did, my family always loved me unconditionally in the end."_ Both of my families loved me unconditionally—Mama, Papa and Kashmira as well as my band. I forgot why I was telling all this to Sammy as I realized I may never see any of my loved ones ever again. Not wanting to face the heartbreak, I took Pearl's advice and distracted myself by chasing my tail. This was the second best thing to drowning my sorrows in alcohol.

Right when I thought I was able to swat at my tail with my paw, I heard the sound of the doorbell. Why did humans have doorbells again? Fuck! Cat brain was real. I focused, trying to remember what the ringing would mean. It was followed by visitors. That meant Vivianna would have to open the door to let them in. " _Sammy, this could be our last chance!_ " I exclaimed. " _Follow me. Hurry!"_

As quickly as my four legs could take me, I dashed downstairs with Sammy trailing behind me. I eagerly reached the front door, anticipating sweet freedom. I'd bare the cold and flee to the mansion. The boys wouldn't know it was me, but Brian wouldn't let a cat stay alone out in the snow, so he'd take me in. I'd form a plan on how to communicate with them from there.

Snowball was crouched behind a lamp, waiting for Vivianna to answer the door. Clearly he had the same plan as us. " _I'll come back for the others once I'm human again."_ I whispered. " _I'll bring the police with me."_

Vivianna turned in response to my soft mewls. I quickly dove behind a house plant so she couldn't see me. Sammy did the same. The witch shrugged and went to the door. " _Get ready to run."_ I told Sammy.

The moment Vivianna opened the door, just a crack, I started sprint. Snowball was the only one who made it out by the time the door was widened completely. Sammy and I stopped dead in our tracks when we saw who was visiting.

 _"Oh my God it's Queen!"_ Sammy squealed. My boys had arrived and were here to rescue me.

_John's POV_

"So tell me again what you heard on the phone exactly?" I asked as we traveled up the steps of porch of the manor.

"She was telling me this horrible story about how Freddie had slipped in ice and had gotten hurt, but then all of a sudden she stopped and yelled at someone to shut up. At first I thought she was talking to her cats because they were all meowing in the background, but she said Freddie's name. Something about making him behave or something. Anyway, I have a feeling our dear Freddie is being held hostage." Brian explained.

"By a witch." Roger muttered.

"Don't be daft, Roggie. Witches aren't real, but this woman could be very dangerous. We need to be  careful." Brian warned.

"Witch or not I'm going to kill her." I felt bile rising in the back of my throat at the thought of any harm coming to Freddie. The last person to hurt him was Prenter, and I did not talk that well. After that interview, Brian and Roger had to stop me from hunting the fruit fly down and clubbing him to death. In the end, it was Freddie who talked me out of my rage.  _"Darling, relax. He's not worth it."_  My anger surprised all of us, myself included. I never thought I work myself up like that again, but now here we were.

I paused when I noticed something sticking out of the snow. It looked like some sort of box. I reached down and picked it up, dusting the flurries off of it so it could be examined. It was a box of Thin Mints. Roger snatched the girl scout cookies away from me. "Careful, Deaky! She could have put a spell on those."

"Come on! This is serious. Freddie could be in big trouble." Brian urged. "Now the plan is we try to get ourselves invited in and gain her trust. Then we search the manor for Freddie. Understand?" We nodded and Brian rang the doorbell.

An elderly woman opened the door. Before I could get a good look at her, a fluffy white cat came running out. I picked him up before he could get very far. "Hey there, little fella." I said feeling my anger melt away like a snowflake at site of the cute creature. "What are you running from? It's way to cold for you to be roaming the streets."

The cat hissed at me and squirmed about in my arms trying to get away. Not even Oscar was this defiant. Although Freddie's kitties all loved me, this cat wasn't one of ours.

"Hello boys. Can I help you?" The woman said with a kind smile. She seemed like any normal grandmother. Her long white hair was pulled back into a bun and she was dressed in a conservative long black dress with black stalkings that were slightly ripped. Some of the wrinkles on her face were marked with ugly scratches likely from cat claws.

I looked down at the cat in my arms narrowly avoiding his scratches as he struggled to escape my grasp. "I know you probably don't mean to hurt people, but you've gotta be careful with those claws of yours."

"Oh!" The woman gasped when she spotted the cat. "Not again, Snowball! Why do you keep running away from me? Don't you know how much I love you!" Snowball became even more violent as the woman took him from me. He thrashed and kicked, hissing angrily in her arms. She ignored him and turned to us. "Thank you for returning him! Why don't you boys get out of that bitter cold and have some tea?"

I came here with the intent to murder, but now I was regretting that decision. This old lady appeared sweet and harmless. Perhaps this whole thing was a misunderstanding and she'd be able to clear it up. Maybe Freddie was inside the manor safe and sound. Brian was the smartest person I knew, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes.

"Tea would be lovely. You're much too kind. Thank you." Brian said. 

"No, thank  _you_  for rescuing poor Snowball. My name is Vivianna. Welcome. Make yourselves at home while I get your tea ready." She put Snowball down and shut the door. "Don't mind him and the other cats."

In addition to Snowball, there were several cats poking their heads around corners and hiding behind various fixtures. Two cats were standing in plain sight by the front door staring up at us. One was an adorable little golden kitten and the other was an equally cute tricolored cat who resembled Delilah. What was special about the second cat were his eyes. I had never seen a cat with such beautiful dark eyes. They were the same rich deep color as Freddie's. The kitten was squealing like one of our fans would upon meeting us, but the other cat was frantically meowing as if he really wanted to tell us something important.

"Okay, her back is turned. Let's start looking for Freddie!" Roger announced. The cat jumped in front of Roger's feet mewling like crazy. He waved his paws in a frenzy. I had never seen a cat display such strange behavior even after living with Freddie's for so long. "Hey, hey, kitty. Shh. Shh. It's okay." Roger cooed, reaching down to scratch him behind the ears.

"What's the matter, little one? Are you hurt?" Brian asked.

"What did the witch do to you?" Roger inquired.

As if on cue, Vivianna returned with three tea cups. Roger gave me and Brian a look and subtly shook his head.

"Don't be shy boys. I promise it's not poison." She laughed as she settled the teacups down on the table.

Part of the plan was gaining her trust. Even though the cats were acting so fussy I really couldn't see this feeble old woman posing any threat. If Freddie were here he'd be against me jumping to conclusions like this. I was sure of it. I could hear him now. " _Oh the darling is just a lonely old cat lover. She needs some company. You're such a beautiful person both inside and out, my Deaky. I'm sure just your presence will bring a smile to her face. You certainly bring a smile to my face, dear..."_

I took a seat at the table, but as I reached for the teacup, the cat leapt away from Brian and Roger in a motion quick as lightning. He used his paw to knock the teacup out of my hand, making the hot liquid fly onto Viviana's face. She screamed in pain and ran out the room.

"I like this cat!" Roger exclaimed. "Can we keep him?" The cat again mewled in a bizarre manner as if he were speaking to us.

"I have a feeling these cats aren't treated very well, but unless we have evidence, we can't just take them away from their owner." Brian said. "Let's just find Freddie. Maybe he witnessed something that could help us prove that Vivianna is not fit to be a pet owner. Then we can get these cats to proper homes where they'll be loved and cared for."

"Something is seriously wrong with this cat." I remarked as I watched him frustratedly pace across the table meowing in an agitated tone. Even though he was physically fine, I knew something was bothering him. "I think Vivianna did something bad to him and he's trying to ask us for help, but we just can't understand him."

When I spoke, the cat stopped moving and focused on me as if he could truly comprehend my words. Then without warning, he jumped onto my lap nuzzling himself against me and purring.

"Aaah." I giggled. "You just wanna be loved, don't you? Vivianna doesn't give you any love, does she?"

The cat looked directly into my eyes and shook his head. I nearly screamed. I glanced back at Brian and Roger. "You saw that too, right? The cat responded to what I just said."

He purred again, staring up at me almost pleadingly. Cats were smart but not like this. "D-Do you understand?" I asked in disbelief. The cat nodded. Brian and Roger both gasped. I imagined that I was white as a ghost right now.

"Is Vivianna cruel to you? Do you want us to get you and the other cats away from her?" Brian asked. The cat violently nodded his head mewling something we couldn't understand.

"That's evidence enough right there. This witch is evil I tell you!" Roger shouted.

"Witch?" Vivianna cackled as she reemerged now with a freshly powdered face. "I hope you're not referring to me. The youth have such disrespect for their elders these days."

Fearlessly, Roger got in her face. "I know what you are, you fucking hag! Now tell us what you did to Freddie and I'll kill you quickly so you don't have to suffer!"

Despite the threat, Vivianna remained unruffled. "Ah," she grinned, "so you three must be Freddie's bandmates. He speaks so highly of you. You're like his family. Roger, you're the one with the temper problem as I can see. Brian, you're the one I spoke to on the phone I thought I recognized your voice. And that leaves..."

Still on my lap, the cat hissed and snapped as Vivianna took a step closer to me. "Freddie's little sex slave, Deaky."

"Excuse me?" I cried as the cat grew even more violent.

"Yes, honey, he told me all about you and how much he loves you. It was adorable really. But we all know how the life of a rockstar works. It's all about sex and drugs. I'm surprised you're so naive. I mean Freddie was so sex crazed that he was even flirting with me, calling me dear and darling and such. I know men like that. It's safe to say that you're not his only lover. Now if you were to become a cat, you wouldn't have to worry about being cheated on and--"

I was so appalled by what she was saying that I barely saw Roger come up behind her and bonk her on the head with an empty vase. Vivianna collapsed onto the floor.

"Roger, what did you do?" Brian scolded. "I know she's horrible, but we need her alive so she can tell us where Freddie is. Besides if we leave her bruised up nobody is going to believe that she's the bad guy. All they'll see is a vulnerable old woman and three young men."

"You did the right thing, Rog." I disagreed with Brian. "The bitch had it coming with the repulsive things she was saying."

I pet the cat gently to calm him down because he was really working itself up. "Shh. Shh. It's alright. We're going to keep you safe. Vivianna wont hurt you and the other kitties anymore now that we're here. That's it." I encouraged as the cat purred for me.

"I think she's slightly mad." Brian remarked. "What was she trying to say about becoming a cat before Roger knocked her out?" 

The cat jumped out of my arms and ran up to Brian, mewling at his feet. I knew he could understand us, but that didn't me we could interpret his meows. Roger and I remained focused on him trying to figure out what was going on, but Brian got distracted by another cat who came running toward him. 

We all gasped. It was the lost kitten, Pixie! Only she had gotten so much bigger, about the size of a normal cat even though she was still a kitten. Regardless, it was undeniably her and Brian knew this for sure as he scooped her up into his arms. "Oh Pixie! Pixie! I can't believe it! We thought you were all dead and gone. This is a miracle! I missed you so much!" 

I smiled upon seeing the bittersweet reunion. Maybe we were wrong about Vivianna. Pixie seemed well cared for. She must take in strays. The media made so many assumptions and flat out lies about Freddie. That was where she was getting her ideas from. I didn't want to believe such a kind old woman who rescued lost cats could be evil. 

"I guess Vivianna took you in. Freddie was right. You don't have your collar so she must have assumed you were a stray and named you Hopscotch." Brian surmised.

The cat by Brian's feet scampered away, but he returned with something in his mouth which he dropped for us to see. I was expecting a dead mouse, but much to my surprise it was a collar tag. Pixie's collar tag to be precise. "Good find!" I praised the clever cat. He purred as I gave him a pet.

"Vivianna stole Pixie!" Roger cried. "I bet all of these cats are stolen. We need to get them back to their rightful owners." 

Brian  crouch down so he was eye to eye with the cat. "You're a very good kitty. Can you help us find our friend Freddie and get you and your fellow cats back home safe and sound?" 

The cat nodded. He put a paw up to his face as if he were pointing to himself. I felt so bad that we couldn't understand him. He was really trying to so hard to convey whatever it was he was trying to tell us. 

"Do you know where Freddie is?" I asked. 

The cat nodded again. I let out a sigh of relief. This kitty would help us find my boyfriend who was probably in a cozy room downstairs taking a nap with the cats. Knowing Freddie, I'd say he already befriended  all of these cats, and I wouldn't be surprised if he offered to adopt them all. 

"Can you take us to Freddie please?" Brian requested. 

Instead of nodding or leading us to where Freddie was, the cat hissed and mewled frustratedly, continuing to point his paw at his face. What were we missing here? 

"Hey, guys! You might want to check this out!" Roger called. 

"We'll be right back." I told the cat as Brian and I went to go see what Roger had uncovered. He pointed to three food bowls made for cats. One bowl had normal cat food in it, but the other bowls had macaroni and cheese and caviar respectively.  

"Who feeds their cats mac and cheese and caviar?" Roger questioned. "Those are both people foods." 

"That cat could understand us." Brian said. "You don't think..."

"Fuck!" Roger shouted. "Why didn't I figure this out sooner? Vivianna is Vivianna Witchingson, a creature witch who turns people into animals and allegedly kills them. Don't ask me how I know that. I just do." 

The accusation was mad, but there were some pretty crazy things going on in the manor to allow me to believe it. I glanced down at the meals in the cat bowls sickened by what it could mean. "Freddie does love caviar." I whispered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deaky and the boys are onto Vivianna, but will they discover the truth and be able to reverse the spell in time? Stay tuned and thanks for reading!


	5. When I Look and I Find...A Cat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the boys realize that Freddie's the cat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is super short, but I'm sick right now please forgive me. I just felt like getting something out to you guys because I love you so much and I'm stuck in bed with a fever and have nothing else to do.

_Freddie’s POV_

“ _I can’t believe it!”_ Sammy exclaimed. “ _You’re Freddie Mercury! And the rest of Queen is here too. Oh my God! Oh my God! I love you guys! I listen to your music all the time. I think my favorite song is Killer Queen. I can’t wait to get your next album when it comes out next month.”_

_“Darling, there isn’t going to be an album unless you help me convince my band that I’m here. Now come on I think I have an idea.”_

I left the boys to cluelessly ponder over the food bowls and ran down the hallway. How could they be this fucking oblivious? Even my Deaky couldn’t figure it out that it was me. My plan had better work because otherwise I had no other ideas left. If I could remember correctly when Vivianna gave me a tour of the manor, she said something about a library being down this hall.

I peeked my head into one of the open doors. Much to my relief, I was greeted by high shelves stacked with books. Muffins had one of the books open and was scratching and eating the pages. “ _Hi Freddie! Hi other human cat! These toys are so much fun to destroy.”_

 _“When I adopt you, dear, the first thing I’m going to do bring you to Brian’s library and let you chew on all his science books.”_  I laughed to myself. “ _That’ll teach him a lesson for not realizing it’s me. And I thought he was supposed to be the smart one.”_

“ _I hate reading. It’s boring.”_ Sammy complained. “ _Why are we in here, Freddie? Shouldn't you be doing super cool rockstar stuff?”_

 _“Sammy, I need your help. One of these books has to have some sort of trigger word or phrase that will help the boys recognize me.”_ I explained. _“Muffins, darling I assume you don’t know how to read, but at least for now refrain from tearing the books apart. They could really be useful for us.”_

 _“Um…No thanks. I’m good.”_ Muffins said and went back to rolling around in the tiny shreds she had created out of the pages of the book.

“ _Fine, just don’t rip apart the books we’re looking at.”_ I negotiated. I climbed up onto a shelf, and knocked down several books with my tail. Then I hopped back down to have a look at them.

Spell books and cook books. Why was I not surprised? We were in the library of a witch after all. I used my mouth to open up one of the books. ‘ _Cat Skin Soup’_  was the first of many recipes. The recipe came with in depth directions and graphic diagrams on how to properly shave, wash and skin the cute kitties to be boiled alive in the soup bowl. Vivianna was one twisted witch bitch. I slammed the book shut with my paw. This wasn’t getting me anywhere.

“ _Oh no!_ ” Sammy whimpered. “ _Freddie, we have a problem.”_

 _“Obviously.”_ I retorted.

But she wasn’t referring to the clear dilemma we had gotten ourselves into. “ _I think I forgot how to read. The letters don’t mean anything to me anymore. They’re just strange symbols.”_

 _“No!”_ I cried. “ _Darling, I think you’re developing cat brain. We need to get you back to normal before it’s too late.”_

 _“Vivianna said she would turn me back, but she lied. I wanna go home.”_ Sammy whined.

 _“I know. I know. I’m going to get you home and back to normal, dear. I just need to…”_ I looked down at the book Sammy had her paws on. “ _Sammy you’re brilliant! This is sure to work! My boys aren’t that daft.”_

_John’s POV_

“I think we’re all getting a little carried away here.” Brian said. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all of this. I mean Pixie’s just a normal cat. She’s not a human. Pixie, nod if you understand me.” The cat just stared up at Brian confirming that she was 100% feline.

“Look I know you guys don’t believe me, but your memories were wiped after our last witch encounter.” Roger insisted. “Creature witches like Vivianna are dangerous and shouldn’t be messed with. They really do turn people into animals. Some of these cats might be people, and one of them might be Freddie.” I knew how mad he sounded, but I believed him.

“Why were our memories wiped and not yours?” Brian asked.

“I-I can’t tell you that. I’m sorry. You just have to trust me.” Roger said.

“I trust you.” I said. “Let’s go find Freddie, but I have a feeling we already did.” I turned back to where the cat had been standing just a few moments ago. Now he was gone. “Shoot! Where’d he go?”

As I looked around in search of the possible Freddie cat, Brian examined a packet of powder kept on the table above the food bowls. “Careful, Bri!” Roger warned, but the guitarist ignored him and spilled open the strange powder on the table. Like magic, it morphed into leafy greens. “Salad?” Brian asked, picking up a piece of lettuce.

“Don’t eat it!” Roger and I shouted in unison.

Now, however, I was curious. Obviously I wasn’t going to eat whatever this powder turned into (I’m not that stupid), but I wanted to confirm that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. So I opened a packet of my own and poured it down next to Brian’s. I gasped when slices of cheese toast formed next to the salad.

“Oh my God!” Brian shouted. “Roger, you’re right! She is a witch. This powder turns into our favorite foods. It’s what she’s feeding the human cats instead of real cat food. That explains the caviar. It was Freddie’s bowl.”

I expected Roger to rejoice into a celebratory chant at Brian announcing that he was right for once. Instead he only laughed. “Your favorite food is salad? How did I not know that? That’s hilarious and oddly fitting!”

“Roger, focus!” Brian scolded, but the drummer’s laughter was contagious. Even I was starting to chuckle. “I’m sorry, Bri. You’re just so cute! I love you, you stupid herbivore!” Roger put his arms around his boyfriend lovingly, and it seemed like Brian was in a very forgiving mood because he offered Roger a kiss. “I love you too, you crazy carnivore.”

“Aww.” I sighed, feeling slightly awkward just watching them share the sweet moment. It also reminded me how much I wanted my Freddie back. I missed him more than anything. What was I going to do if Freddie really was that cat? It was something I was trying hard to deny, but there were just too many coincidences. It all added up.

“Meow!” The cat scamped back down the hall, followed by the little golden kitten. He was holding a book in his mouth, which he dropped by my feet. I only made out the cover ‘ _Greek and Roman Gods’_  before the cat opened it with its mouth and flipped through the pages with his paws, stopping when he reached the page on Mercury. “F-Freddie?” I choked. The cat purred and nodded in confirmation.

I nearly fainted while Brian stifled a surprised scream. Roger only nodded smugly. "See. I told you so." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if Brian’s favorite food is salad, but that would kind of make sense. Also writing it that way gave me an excuse for a cute Maylor moment. Again, sorry this is so short. I'll write more later.


	6. Save Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roger contacts the magic police, but it comes with some consequences.

_Freddie's POV_

" _Tie your mother down, tie your mother down, or you ain't no friend of mine!"_ Roger belted as he tied an unconscious Vivianna to a chair using the yarn as rope.

Seeing the yarn stretch out like that excited me for reasons I couldn't understand. I just wanted to jump and play in a big pile of yarn or ribbon or...

"Freddie," Brian crouched down in front of me, "we need to figure out a way to communicate so you can tell us how this happened and how we can get you back to normal."

" _Or I can just play with your hair."_  I decided, reaching my paw up to swat at one of the dangling curls. Yes. This was more fun than whatever he had in mind.

"We're losing him!" Deaky's scared tone pulled me of my trance. I glanced back at him, noticing the tears in his eyes. Oh my poor Deaks! I scampered over to him, nuzzling myself against his legs, and purring to show him that I was still here. " _I love you, darling."_

John sighed. "I wish I knew what you were trying to say. Are you even still in there or have you gone full on cat on us?"

"Of course he's in there." Brian said gesturing to the book still open to the page on Mercury. "He just got distracted. Does anyone have a hair tie? Maybe if I pull my hair back it'll help him stay focused."

" _You never tie back your hair. That will be an interesting site. I can't really imagine it."_  I remarked. It was a meaningless ramble, but Brian and John both stared at me inquisitively.

"What is it, Freddie?" Deaky pressed. "Please try to tell us somehow. We want to help you."

"You two are idiots." Roger said walking over to me with a piece of paper. He put it down in front of me, and I could make out all the letters of the alphabet written in his handwriting. "Here you go, Freddie, spell out whatever it is you want to say. Problem solved."

"Roger you're brilliant!" Brian proclaimed making him blush. "That means a lot coming from you, Brimi." He said.

I meowed to get the lovers' attention back onto me as I put my paws down on the letters, spelling out exactly what I wanted them to know. ' _I dont have much time before I become a real cat.'_

"We won't let that happen." Deaky said firmly. "How can we help?"

I was afraid there wasn't much they could do because none of us knew of any reversal spells. However there was one thing that I wanted from them. I'd get it across on behalf of my new cat friends before I lost my mind. ' _Adopt...'_ My paws froze in place when I sensed Vivianna's movement. She was waking up.

"Adopt? You want us to rescue these cats?" Brian asked.

"You can't do that!" Vivianna's voice made them all turn around. "They're  _my_ cats! That would be stealing!"

"You hateful hag, you stole them first!" Deaky shouted, surprising me with his intensity. "I don't know what you want with these people and cats, but we're going to save them all!"

"Why can't we have this conversation civilly like adults over some tea and pot pie?" She countered with a smirk. I hissed at her which only made her laugh.

"You're laughing now, but it won't be funny when I call the magic council and have your sorry ass arrested!" Roger shouted.

' _Magic council?'_  I questioned. Did Roger know about these things? Out of the three of them, he did seem the least phased to see me like this. How could I have a wizard in my own band without even knowing it? Granted, before today, I didn't believe in wizards, but still.

"Oh, honey, I've been arrested more times than I can count. The jury only sees a lonely old cat woman. And your star witness over there," Vivianna gestured to me, "can't do much talking now, can he? They find me innocent each and every time."

"Yes, but you also have three witnesses who  _can_ and will talk for him!" Brian declared.

"Not for long." Vivianna threatened.

" _If you harm any one of them, I will claw your eyes out!"_ I hissed.

"What a frisky little kitty you are." Vivianna cooed condescendingly. "I'm sure you won't be so badly behaved when your friends join you."

"I know how magic works." Roger said. "Nothing will happen unless we're willing participants, and you'll never get us to agree to this."

"I got Freddie to agree to it, so we'll just see about that." She said.

' _I only agreed because you tricked me. My boys aren't that daft.'_ I mewled.

"Now please untie me. I need to check on my pot pie in the oven." Vivianna commanded.

"We won't untie you until you change Freddie and whoever else you kidnapped back to human." John said.

"Well, now I have to play dirty." Vivianna said. She wiggled her feet, managing to knock off one of her slippers with silk laces. "I always love these shoes. They're so soft and fun to pounce on, but the highlight are the laces. Just look at them! They're so bendy and long like yarn. Don't you just want to dig your claws in them and..."

I could no longer hear Vivianna; my entire fixation was devoted to her shoe and those perfect laces that I just couldn't seem to pull apart with my paws. I chewed at them and rolled around in an attempt to get them loose. The shoe was so enticing. I couldn't stop. Nothing else mattered. The humans could mind their own business, but I was busy with my new toy.

_Roger's POV_

Brian and Deaky both tried to call Freddie out of his trance, but shouting his name didn't seem to do much. Even when Brian took the shoe away, Freddie treated it like a game, jumping up and trying to retrieve it back.

"Deliciously cute as cat, isn't he?" Vivianna remarked.

"Why are you doing this?" I shouted.

"Become a cat yourself and find out."

I nearly smacked her, but I resisted. This was getting us nowhere. With Brian and John distracted by Freddie's kitty antics, I slipped into the other room in search of Vivianna's phone. Several cats followed me, meowing away expecting me to understand. I ignored them and dialed the number for the magic council hotline.

"Hello, this is the magic council hotline. If you're not a witch or wizard, please stay on the line to have your memory erased. If you're interested in applying for a job at the magic council, please press 1. If you'd like to report a magical crime, please press 2..."

I pressed 2 and was thankfully greeted by a non robotic voice. "Hello. Officer Steve speaking. How may I help you?"

"Vivianna Witchingson is up to her old tricks again. She kidnapped my best friend and turned him into a cat, and now she's threatening to turn the rest of us into cats as well. You need to come and put her behind bars where she belongs." I said all in one breath. 

"Alright. I've used my magic to track your location. I'll be there in a few minutes with backup. I suggest getting you and your friends out of there as soon as possible. Ms. Witchingson is a dangerous creature witch, and none of her victims manage to keep themselves alive for very long."

"Why?" I asked, "What does she do to the cats?"

"By the time we arrive, all we can usually find is their shaven fur. Our guess is either murder or consumption, but she always gets away with it because there's no evidence."

"This bitch is going down!" I declared.

"Be careful." Steve warned.

I hung up and rushed back into the other room to make sure that Brian and Deaky were still okay. Vivianna struggled to break free from the yarn. Meanwhile Freddie somehow managed to tangle himself in Brian's hair, and John was holding Pixie back to stop her from also jumping onto Brian's head. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to laugh or not.

"He's pretty far gone isn't he?" I concluded, and the chaos suddenly didn't seem too funny anymore. We may have just lost our frontman.

"What are we going to do?" Deaky wailed.

"Join him." Vivianna replied, licking her lips. "Say the word and you can be with Freddie again. You'll be able to understand him and everything."

Brian finally gently removed Freddie from his curls, handling him like a baby, but giving Vivianna a contrasting death glare. Freddie blinked his eyes and glanced around curiously, mewling something. Maybe he was coming out of his daze?

"Listen up, you witch bitch!" I shouted, "Any moment now Officer Steve is going to show with machine guns ready to go. We're taking you down. So before you either go to death row or spend the rest of your days in a dark cell, why don't you clear you conscience and tell us how to reverse the spell?"

"You called the magic hotline? I am so frightened!" Vivianna said sarcastically. "No one will believe you when they find me tied down like this. They'll think I'm the victim, which I am."

"Officer Steve knows you're a menace to society. He'll believe us. You'll pay for what you've done to all the people and cats over the years." I said.

"But I doubt he'll be too keen to know that you just exposed yourself as a wizard to your human friends." She clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "This might mean the end of your relationship with them."

"Roger, what is she talking about?" Brian interjected.

"I-I...Oh, Brimi, I can't lose you!" I had been keeping my magic a secret for a year to avoid this, but it was happening anyway. I was a fucking future wizard. Why didn't I see this one coming? "They're going to wipe your memory, and force me to stay away from you."

Before Brian could respond, there was loud pounding on the door. "Magic police, open up!" Someone shouted.

I went to go let them in, but Freddie jumped out of Brian's arms and ran in front of me. With his mind seemingly back intact, he mewled and led me back to the alphabet sheet I had written up.

"Thank goodness you're back!" Deaky teared up as Freddie began to move his paws across the letters, spelling out a message.

"Don't let them in?" I read.

The cat nodded. "Freddie, are you crazy? They're here to help you! I'm scared if you get distracted again, you might not come back from it, and you'll stay a cat forever."

' _Theyll take you away from us.'_ Freddie wrote.

"But if we don't accept their help, we'll lose you too." I sobbed.

"This is your final warning or we're coming in!" The officer outside warned.

I knew what I had to do. I looked back at Brian. "I love you." I told him for what might be the last time.

"Roger, don't—"

With a loud bang, Officer Steve and his team busted down the door. Startled by the noise, the cats all ran about the house in a frantic craze. A series of meows masked the sound of Officer Steve's feet as he and the others walked wearily down the hall.

"We're in here!" I called. "Don't shoot!"

Brian, Deaky, and I all put our hands in the air as the police entered the room we were in. Thankfully, their weapons were lowered, and their focus was on Vivianna. Officer Steve untied Vivianna from the yarn and put her in handcuffs. "Vivianna Witchingson, you're under arrest for kidnapping and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent..."

"Are any of you hurt?" One of Officer Steve's partners asked.

"We're not the ones you should be asking. Talk to the cats." Brian said.

_Freddie's POV_

I alternated between laps as the boys went in one by one to be interrogated. Brian went first followed by Deaky. Now I was waiting with Roger for him to get called in. Pixie and I were the only cats in the police station lobby. The other cats were being kept in a different room.

"So between the humans, lost pets, and strays we rescued a total of 39 cats." Roger said. We watched as another happy family came to retrieve their runaway kitty.

I nudged Roger, and he got the message, holding out the alphabet sheet. ' _Most of them are strays. If I get cat brain or our memories are wiped, promise me we will adopt them or at least get them to loving homes.'_

"If your memories are wiped, then you'll wake up one day to find a bunch of new cats in your home. That might be a bit of a shock." Roger said.

' _It will be a bigger shock to Brian and Deaky that Im one of the cats.'_

"You won't be." He said. "We're going to reverse the spell before we lose you. I promise, Freddie. We'll figure this out. Even if I have to leave you all behind, at least you won't be the one gone."

It wasn't fair that the magic council was forcing Roger to give us up because we knew he was a wizard now. He hadn't even meant to spill his secret. It was all Vivianna's fault. Why was Roger being punished when he did nothing wrong?

"God, I'm gonna miss you guys so much. You won't even remember me. I'll be a complete stranger. And I won't even be allowed to get in contact with you."

' _Youll always have your car.'_  I wrote to cheer him up. There wasn't much else I could do for him at the moment. Roger shook his head with a sad smile.

Brian came out of the interrogation room. Roger put me down and ran to him so the two could embrace.

Now that I was back on the ground, Pixie approached me. " _Freddie, what's going on? Why are we here? Is Brian going to take us home?"_

" _Yes, dear, he is soon. The humans just need to answer some of the officers' questions so they know what happened and make sure Vivianna doesn't hurt anymore cats."_ I explained. " _As soon Brian's done, he'll take you home."_

_"What about you and the other cats who don't have homes? Is Brian going to be your human now too?"_

_"I don't know."_  I answered honestly. " _We're trying to get me back to normal, but if we can't, then..."_

" _John will be your human?"_  Pixie didn't seem to understand that staying a cat was not an option for me. The problem was that one more distraction may just lock me into cat mode forever.

A family rushed by us. The mother was so distraught that her heels nearly smacked into me. Pixie scurried out of the way, and I dodged her trail in the knick of time. I watched as the frantic parents approached the front desk with their teenage son following close behind.

"We're here to see our daughter. Samantha Samson." The father said. "Is she here? Do you have her? Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay!" The mother cried.

" _Sammy!"_ I mewled. Her family was here to rescue her. How would they handle their daughter as a kitten? Where was Sammy anyway? She had to be careful. If she was with the other strays, she could be mistaken for a real cat.

"Where is she?" The father demanded.

As if on cue, a wizard stepped out into the lobby holding Sammy. Despite being half his size, the mother nearly tackled him to the ground. "Where the hell is my daughter? You bring her to me now!" She shouted not realizing that her daughter was the kitten in the man's arms.

"Ma'am, I don't know how to tell you this, but—"

"—No! No! Please don't tell me that old lady was right and she's dead. I can't through that again. I can't lose my little girl. Please! Please! I need to see her. I want to hold her again and tell her that I love her."

"Shit! If Sammy's really all dead and gone, then the last time I ever saw her we got into a fight." Her brother sobbed. "I wish I could tell her I'm sorry."

"Wherever Sammy is, she knows that her family loves her very much. That won't change." Her father comforted the boy. The mother joined in on the grieving hug.

" _You do love me after all."_  Sammy mewled in realization.

The trio was so busy comforting each other and facing the tragedy that they failed to notice that kitten the wizard was holding was changing. She was growing, and the fur was shedding away revealing skin.

" _Oh look at that Sammy's a human child again and not a kitten!"_ Pixie casually pointed out.

"Mom! Dad! Tommy!" The now human Sammy called out to her family. She rose to her feet only to be picked up into the air and spun around by her father. "Sunshine! Oh I was so worried about you!" "My Sammy!" Her mother bawled, smothering her with kisses. "What happened to you, Sams? You had us all so freaked out!" Tommy laughed.

"This scary old witch turned me into a cat. First it was fun because I could do whatever I wanted and I didn't have to wear dresses and skirts, but then she wouldn't change me back and I got really scared. I thought I was going to be a cat forever. I was starting to forget how to be a person. Like I forgot how to read and..."

"Slow down there, you silly girl." Her father laughed. "I know it may be hard for you to comprehend what really happened, but you need to tell us the truth."

"That is the truth!" Sammy cried. "And I didn't even tell you the best part yet. I got to meet Queen!"

"You met the Queen?" Her mother gasped.

"No! I met Queen. And you know what Freddie Mercury told me? He said his parents didn't let him do certain things but he went ahead and did them anyway, and guess what they still loved him in the end."

Did I tell her that? Well, my parents still loved me even though I "did certain things", so it wasn't a lie. I didn't mean to be such a bad influence on Sammy, but it seemed like everything worked out alright for her. The real question was how Vivianna's spell was broken. What did Sammy do to reverse it just like that?

"You're such a liar!" Tommy, her brother accused. "I bet you just ran away to get all this attention."

"Tommy!" Their father scolded. "Your sister's clearly been through a traumatic experience and sometimes we make up stories to deal with what really happened. You need to be nice to her."

"But it's not made up, Daddy." Sammy exclaimed.

"So  _the_ Freddie Mercury just happened to be with this witch who turned you into a cat?" Tommy snickered in disbelief.

"She turned Freddie into a cat too. He helped me realize that Vivianna was only feeding me the mac and cheese so she could eat me. By the way, Mom, I never want to eat mac and cheese ever again. So don't make it anymore."

“Okay. How about I make a pot pie for tonight? You love my pot pies!”

“Freddie!” Roger shouted, distracting me from Sammy’s family reunion. “Freddie, did you hear that? Do you understand?” Brian spoke loudly and slowly to me.

Deaky picked me up into his arms excitedly. “They said they’re letting us keep our memories if we testify!”

“I don’t have to be separated from you guys!” Roger exclaimed. “I can finally be honest!”

“Roger and I are going to adopt half the strays, and you and Deaky will adopt the other half. Everything’s going to be okay, Freddie.” Brian said.

‘ _Except I’m still a fucking cat!’_ I snarled.

“Hey, hey. Shh. Shh. You’ll be back to normal soon. Please don’t be upset, love.” John pet my fur in soothing circles. “They said to reverse the spell all you have to do is seek out whatever it was Vivianna was enticing you with.”

All Sammy wanted was the love and approval of her family. I imagined Vivianna packaged her lie with something along the lines of, “Think about how much more they would love you if you were a cute little kitten.” 

But what did she tempt me with? I tried to focus on that instead of how wonderful it felt when Deaky rubbed my belly. I purred in bliss. Humans give the best massages.

“Do you remember if Vivianna offered you anything, Freddie?” Brian asked.

“With the way her magic works, it probably wasn’t anything physical like a car, but something more complex.” Roger explained. “According to this spell book they gave us, the most common traps people fall for are love, happiness, an escape from reality, or a change in perspective.”

Somehow I could picture Vivianna manipulating someone into believing that becoming a cat would bring them fame and fortune and everything that goes with it.  I already had those things, so I wouldn’t ask her for that. Why did I go to the manor in the first place? I rescued Snowball, but why was I outside on my own?

I squirmed against Deaky, and he was able to understand that I needed my letter sheet to speak to them. ‘ _Why did I leave?’_

“You needed fresh air so you went for a walk.” Roger recalled.

“You were really stressed about the song you were working on. You didn’t want to show us what you had so far for whatever reason.” John said.

My champion song! That was it. That was my answer! It was my key to becoming human again. Vivianna said something about me being “lost in the creative process”. If I found my way out, I’d go back to normal. I considered it a challenge to return to the human race, but I wasn’t gonna lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for We Are the Champions and the trial against Vivianna. Will this witch gets what she deserves? We’ll find out soon! Thanks for reading!


	7. We Are The Champions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delilah helps Freddie finish his champion song.

Roger paced around the room, and I was tempted to chase him, but I remained focused on the task ahead of me instead. The alphabet sheet stared back at me tauntingly.

"What do you see, Rog? Anything on how we can get Freddie back or Vivianna's trial?" Brian pressed.

' _Im right here'_ I spelled out.

"We know." Deaky said. "Just work on the song, okay? Don't mind us. We're just brainstorming other options in case this doesn't work."

' _It will work.'_  It had to work. What was I going to do if it didn't? No, I wasn't going to consider that. I just needed to write...Fuck! Why was this so hard?

"I think Vivianna messed with my powers or something." Roger said. "I can't see anything about Freddie or the trial. I don't know. It's all fuzzy."

"Maybe we should take Freddie home. That could help, right?" Deaky offered. "He gets his best writing done sitting by his piano. What do you think, Fred? Wanna go home? Maybe check up on the cats. I know Mary's watching them, but for all we know Delilah might have claimed herself as the reigning queen in charge."

I did miss my darling kitties, and it would be fun to play and interact with them. Plus I kept the house well stocked with toys and treats. Shit! I was thinking like a cat again. My piano was at home, and that was part of the goal. Finish We Are the Champions. No more distractions. 

"I think that might be a good idea." Brian said. "Plus you can get the cats you're adopting situated to their new home."

Oh, I couldn't wait for Snowball, Bubbles, Muffins and Pearl to meet their new brothers and sisters. We would all get along so well. There would be nonstop purrs and cuddles.

"Freddie, focus! Purring doesn't tell us what you want. Spell out yes or no." Roger instructed. "Try to stay human, mate."

I put my paws down on the alphabet sheet, trying to remember how to spell. How the hell was I supposed to write out my lyrics if I couldn't remember how to arrange the letters? ' _Y'...'E'...'Z'_ That spelled out yes, right?

"Oh, Freddie!" I wasn't sure why John was crying, but I wanted to comfort him. No one wanted a sad Deaky. I went up to his leg, and nuzzled against him, purring gently.

"Let's get you home, sweetheart." He sighed.

***

 _"So how are we feeling about John? Think he'll be a good human?"_ Bubbles eyed Deaky skeptically as he drove us home.

 _"Much better than Vivianna and the shelter. I'm not complaining."_ Snowball said.

" _I don't know. I don't trust humans who play favorites."_ Pearl remarked. " _How come he's letting Freddie sit in the front seat while the rest of us are back here?"_

" _Because for the last time, I'm not a real cat, darling."_ I hissed.

"Home sweet home!" John announced as he parked the car. "Um, I'm not sure how we're going to explain all this to Mary. I think the important thing is getting you to your piano. Nod if you still understand me."

I nodded and Deaky let out a sigh of relief. "God, I love you, Freddie. I just want you to know that before you..."

" _Darling, no! Please don't cry! I'm here."_ I squirmed my way out of the seatbelt and jumped onto his lap. " _I still love you."_ I purred.

" _Yay!_   _Cuddles!"_ Muffins also broke free from her seatbelt and hopped onto Deaky's lap with me. John wiped the tears from his eyes and laughed. "I know you're excited to finally be in a loving home." He turned back to address the other cats. "I bet you're all eager to get inside and explore."

" _I wanna play!"_ Bubbles mewled.

" _I have plenty of yarn and toys for you inside, dear."_ I told him.  _"You'll be well taken care of, darling. None of you ever have to fret ever again. Our house is cat haven."_

When we followed Deaky in the house, all of the cats excitedly scrambled away to explore, but I stayed put at my boyfriend's feet. My ears perked at the sound of someone in the living room rising to her feet. "Freddie? John?"

"It's just me, Mary." Deaky called, "Fred's um...he's just working with Brian on a song. He'll be back later."

"Oh." Mary looked down at me. "Hello there." She cooed. "I bet Freddie is going to love you. Where'd you find him, Deaky? Is he a stray?"

" _Deaky, just tell her the truth. I know she won't believe us, but this is humiliating."_ I said. Of course he couldn't understand a word I was saying.

"He's going to be staying with us, but hopefully not too long."

"Trying to track down his owner? That's the responsible thing to do although I don't think Freddie would be willing to let this one go. Such a cutie." Mary pet the top of my head. "Such beautiful eyes you have, kitty."

" _I'm a pretty kitty."_ I purred. Wait what?

"Anyway, the cats were all little angels while you were away. You can report back to Freddie that they were all on their best behavior even Oscar." Mary said. "They didn't give me any trouble at all."

" _I find that hard to believe."_ I mewled. I would have to ask my cats for myself whether or not Mary was covering for their bad behavior because they were so cute.

"I'm gonna get going. See you later, Deaky. Send Freddie my love." Mary said. 

 _'You have my love, darling.'_ I purred as John walked her to the door. 

Jerry casually walked by, and I had to do a double take because it was so rare to see him without Tom by his side. Those two were always inseparable. Jerry glanced at me curiously. " _You're new. Tom is my best friend, but you can be my friend too. Just not my best friend because Tom is my best friend."_

Before I could let Jerry know that he was talking to his human, he strode up to Deaky and cocked his head to the side, making his eyes wide. "Hi Jerry! Where's Tom?" John laughed. Jerry purred gently. " _I'm going to distract you."_  He meowed softly. _"I'm so cute that you'll never find out that Tom peed all over your Chippendale suite and you won't get mad."_

 _"It was Tom!"_ I cried. " _And all this time I thought it was Delilah who kept peeing on that thing. I owe her an apology."_

Jerry spun around. " _Freddie?"_ He scampered over to me and gave me a sniff. " _You're a cat now. Huh. That's cool. Wait until I tell Tom!"_

As he ran away to go find Tom, Romeo and Tiffany approached me. " _Look, Tiff! New cat!"_ Romeo mewled excitedly. He tapped his paw against my tail. " _Tag! You're it! Let's go play! Try and catch us!"_

Tag! I hadn't played tag in ages. It took me back to my youth, running through the austere halls of the Indian boarding school. Of course I had to play again. How could I resist.

"Oh no no no!" Deaky cried, picking me up before I could get very far. No! Romeo and Tiffany were winning. This couldn't happen. I wanted to be the champion. "We are getting you to your piano. I know you love the other cats, but they're distracting you right now. You can play with them when you're back to normal."

John carried me to my trusted piano. Delilah was perched on top, dangling her paws over the edge while Oscar napped on the keys.

"Oscar, get off the keys!" Deaky reprimanded. "You can nap up top with Delilah, but Freddie needs to use the keys right now."

Oscar opened his eyes tiredly. He huffed, but didn't move. I freed myself from Deaky's embrace and jumped up onto the piano bench. _"Oscar, darling, move now, and Deaky will get you a treat."_  I negotiated.

He sluggishly rose from his spot on the ivory and curled up on the floor beneath me. " _Treat now!"_ He demanded, hissing at Deaky.

"Let me guess. You want a treat." Somehow John was able to understand. "I'll get right on it. Freddie, stay here and get to work. Don't let them distract you."

" _Hi Freddie! It's me Delilah."_ She purred.

 _"I know that, darling. Let me focus. I need to finish this champion song or else I'll stay a cat forever."_ I told her.

To the best of my ability, I put my paws down on the keys and started to play, but it was sloppy and awkward. I was sure I looked super cute, but that wouldn't get a hit song written.

Delilah jumped down and joined me on the bench.  _"I've watched you make the sounds for years. I know what buttons to hit to make the sounds. Four paws are better than two. We can both play it at once. Would that help?"_

" _Actually that might help. I have the melody down but I need to work on the chords. Normally I'm able to play both at once, but I've lost a lot of my dexterity."_ I looked down at my paws. This was ridiculous. There was no way I could train Delilah to play the melody for me while I worked out the chords.

" _Just tell me what to do."_ Delilah prompted.

I attempted to play the melody stuck in my head. The tempo was now much slower as I didn't have fingers to work with. "Can you play this for me, Delilah? Just like that?" I was asking too much of her. I could barely do it myself and I still had my human brain (or I was trying to keep my human brain).

 _"I'll try my best."_ She stood up on her hind legs on the piano bench just like I was, and put her front paws on the pianos. Slowly but surely Delilah recreated my melody. 

" _Darling, you're brilliant! "_ I proclaimed. I didn't care what Pearl thought. I loved all my cats, but I had my favorites, and Delilah was definitely at the top of the list. 

 _"Well I learned from watching you."_ Delilah purred. " _Want me to do it again?_ " 

" _Yes please._ " I encouraged. 

Delilah played the melody again and I worked on my chords. What normally could be played with one hand now required both paws moving ferociously. Still, the sound of us playing together was somewhat resembled the song I had in mind. If only I could still sing... Fuck it!

 _"I've paid my dues..."_ My mouth could only form  _meow meow meow meow_ but I heard it in my head properly. 

_"...We are the champions, my friends_

_And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end_  
We are the champions  
We are the champions  
No time for losers  
'Cause we are the champions..."

 

There was a sudden blinding flash of light. Delilah got spooked and jumped down from the piano, mewling frantically. I fell backward, and the light was too bright for me to handle, so I closed my eyes. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I needed to finish my song. So lying on my back with my eyes tightly shut, I belted. "OF THE WOOOOORRRRLD!" The sound of my powerful voice echoed across the room. This wasn't in my head. It was real. 

I opened my eyes. The light from before was gone, but I was still on the floor. Delilah jumped up onto my stomach and poked at my face with her nose. Her whiskers tickled my cheek. "Delilah!" I laughed. "What are you doing?" 

_"Meow, meow meow!"_

I grinned. "I have no idea what you just said, darling!" I never thought those words would bring me happiness, but they did. "I don't understand you!" I exclaimed. She mewled again, and I sat up, pulling her into my arms, covering her fur with kisses. "We did it! I'm back to normal!" 

As if things couldn't get any better, the door swung open and Deaky came rushing in squealing. "I thought I heard your voice again, but I was scared I had just imagined it!" I laughed when he picked me up off the ground and spun me around. "I usually do that to you, darling! You've gotten strong."

"Freddie, I missed you. Promise me you'll never leave again." John was in tears again and I hated it. I wiped them away and gave him a kiss worthy of his love. "I was never gone, and I never plan on leaving. I love you too much for that shit."

When John wouldn't stop giggling, I knew something was still off. "Darling, what is so funny?" I asked. 

"You still have whiskers." He kissed me again. "It looks good though. You should keep it."

I thought he was joking, but I put a hand to my face, feeling the soft hairs beneath my nose. Deaky handed me a mirror revealing a dark mustache that had miraculously appeared. "Sexy." I purred. "I like it!" 

"I was so scared I'd lose you." John sighed, slinking his arms around me. "I want Vivianna to pay for what she did to you and the cats."

"I think we'll be the champions in the end." I said. "Speaking of which, can you get me a pen and paper? I have some lyrics I need to jot down." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Freddie's back with a mustache! We're approaching the end, folks. We just have to get through Vivianna's trial and then the epilogue. Will Freddie and their kitties get the revenge? Find out in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I know the band didn't originally intend for We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions to be played together, but I did wonder why Spread Your Wings was shot alongside We Will Rock You while We Are the Champions had a separate video. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the start of this story. More is coming soon, so stay tuned! Let me know what you think so far. I love hearing from you guys!


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